Just over 10% of visitors to Las Vegas come to Sin City for a convention, conference, meeting, or trade show. The most recent Las Vegas Visitor Profile shows that about 12% of visitors last year were in Las Vegas for one of those reasons. That’s an increase from 7% in 2013.
Casino operators are looking to increase the number of business travelers to Las Vegas in the next few years. While these visitors to Las Vegas don’t necessarily gamble, they spend a lot of money. Hotel rooms and meals are usually paid for by the business sending the visitors. These visitors don’t spend as much bargain hunting as leisure travelers on vacation. There’s also less concern about additional fees since the company usually pays for travel.
Caesars Forum Opens In 2020
Last year Caesars Entertainment a new conference center. This week they broke ground on Caesars Forum (not to be confused with the Forum Shops mall at Caesars Palace) behind The Linq. Caesars Entertainment says the new space will open in 2020. The opening could shake up hotel room rates at some of their Las Vegas hotels.
The $375 million, 550,000 square-foot conference center will increase the number of business travelers staying at The Linq, Flamingo, Harrah’s, and even Caesars Palace across the street. These four Caesars Entertainment hotels will be closest Total Rewards casinos to the convention center.
Caesars Forum will be the first facility of this size built on a single level. The conference center will feature the two largest pillarless ballrooms in the world. This space is equivalent to twenty seven tennis courts or three ice hockey rinks. In addition to conference and expos, this flexible space on a single level will allow special events to take place at Caesars Forum.
The convention center will also feature Forum Plaza. This will be the first 100,000 square foot outdoor meeting and event space in Las Vegas. Forum Plaza will be a multi-functional space that allows companies to host receptions, meetings, and live entertainment.
“Caesars Entertainment has eight properties located in the center of the Las Vegas strip – more than any other competitor,” said Mark Frissora, President and Chief Executive Officer for Caesars Entertainment. “With our geographic advantage, and the demand for meetings space exceeding available inventory, this project builds on our strategy to provide a value-add to meeting planners, guests and investors.”
Why New Conference And Expo Spaces Matter To Everyone
New conference centers affect travelers in a few ways. The weekdays in Las Vegas have long been a way to find less expensive hotel room rates. Hotels in Las Vegas usually have fewer guests from Sunday through Thursday than during the weekend. New conference centers like Caesars Forum will bring more people to Las Vegas during the slower periods. This usually leads to higher hotel rates at nearby hotels. The higher occupancy could make the $20 trick a little more difficult at the hotels mentioned above since there are fewer available rooms.
Many visitors to Las Vegas are loyal to a specific casino/hotel chain. The more money – business or personal – spent at these properties can lead to extra points and rewards. If work wants to have a meeting or conference in Las Vegas, you might as well get the personal benefits.
