The Las Vegas Centennial Commission seems to getting more careful with its money, even though it collects $1.6 million a year to give to worthwhile historical projects.
Tourism
Organizers have announced the dates of the inaugural Rock in Rio USA festival slated for next spring on the Las Vegas Strip. The festival is scheduled for May 8-9 and May 15-16 in 2015.
Hundreds of tourism workers rallied at the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement in downtown Las Vegas to celebrate National Travel and Tourism Week, technically a nine-day observance that nearly 15 million tourism industry employees nationwide are sharing.
The abnormal winter bred pent-up demand — demand partially stoked by Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which tied some of its TV campaign to the thermometer. A record low temperature automatically triggered ad buys in that region. This resulted in more ad purchases than normal, but it also stirred desire in that audience to get away to warmer climate.
Look for Allegiant Air to introduce a co-branded credit card soon. Asked about whether the airline plans a loyalty program, President Andrew Levy said they wouldn’t have a traditional frequent-flier club, but a credit card that would reward customers with incentives.
Southern Nevada reported its third straight month of visitor volume increases in March, wrapping up a quarter that was one of the strongest since the second quarter of 2012, the city’s best year for tourism.
My group couldn’t wait for the chance to fly on the tallest observation wheel in the world. The doors opened and about 15 of us climbed in as the capsule moved continuously along the boarding platform.
SlotZilla, the zip line through the Fremont Street Experience that launches from a 12-story slot-machine-themed platform, opened to the public at noon Sunday. Every time period for the ride sold out on its first day.
Smaller hotels like Rumor and Artisan allow companies to revamp entire properties to fit their needs. “We pretty much have a ‘don’t say no’ mentality,” said Michael Crandall, senior vice president at The Siegel Group. “We say yes to pretty much anything that’s within our means.”
The Hualapai Tribe, which owns the horseshoe-shaped Grand Canyon Skywalk on the northwestern Arizona reservation, and the family of the Las Vegas businessman who developed it have reached a financial settlement.
Passenger counts at McCarran International Airport soared to their highest level in 5½ years in March, completing a quarter that has the airport on pace to serve more than 40 million for the year.
Discounter Spirit Airlines, one of the fastest growing commercial air carriers at McCarran International Airport over the past two years, is adding a red-eye route to and from Kansas City.
Bob Engelbrecht tells each of his 60 pilots that a grandmother should feel comfortable flying in a Sundance helicopter. “That’s a huge priority for us,” said Engelbrecht, the company’s CEO. “People want to know that they can fly with confidence.”
The Republican National Committee will make a technical site visit to Las Vegas on Thursday to help determine whether the city will win the right to host the 2016 convention where the GOP will nominate its presidential candidate.
Nevada’s senators, Harry Reid and Dean Heller, have signed on to a bill to extend the Brand USA public-private partnership to promote tourism.