After more than two years of declines, the meetings industry in Las Vegas is expecting an upswing in 2011 thanks to "rebounding corporate profits, a relentless convention sales force and that irksome volcano in Iceland," the
reported last week.
According to the local newspaper, Las Vegas can expect visitor numbers on par with those of late 2005 and early 2006, when the city was ascending towards its record year: 2007, when it welcomed a record 6.2 million convention attendees before experiencing two years' worth of double-digit declines fueled by the Great Recession.
"Annual trade shows are starting to see bigger numbers coming back than ever before," Chuck Bowling, executive vice president of MGM Resorts International, told the
Sun. "In the past, [companies] may have sent only 10 people; they're now sending 20 people."
Although a Las Vegas recovery isn't certain, it's likely, according to experts, who point out that many meeting planners who promised to return to Las Vegas when the time was right are now doing so.
What's more, the
Sun reports, Las Vegas will see a "nice boost" this year from conventions that rotate between cities, and can expect a large return on investment from the activities of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), which has made 2,800 sales calls over the past 18 months and also has modified one of its websites —
VegasMeansBusiness.com — to speak directly to CEOs and meeting planners.
"We started to see some of it come back in '10," LVCVA Vice President of Sales Chris Meyer told the
Sun, referring to convention business. "We had a couple of shows that had an 18 percent increase in attendance."
Among the largest shows planned in Las Vegas this year are the International Consumer Electronics Show, which opens Jan. 6 and expects at least 120,000 people; the International Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigerating Exposition, which is expected to attract 40,000 delegates later this month; and ConExpo-Con/Agg, a construction industry trade show that will attract 140,000 people in March, despite construction's continued slump.
"The ConExpo event in Munich [last year] was disrupted by the volcanic eruption [in Iceland], and we think that's going to create some pent-up demand for the Las Vegas show," Meyer said.