The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) organised a panel discussion with industry leaders from across the city, including MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, The Venetian and The Palazzo and Wynn Resorts, to celebrate Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID) on 14 April.
The venue for the discussion was the recently opened T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with EW in attendance.
The audience heard that the meetings industry in Vegas now supports 66,500 jobs and generates more than US$9.3bn in economic impact.
“Tourism is the economic engine that drives this town and the meeting industry plays a significant role,” said Rossi Ralenkotter, president/CEO of the LVCVA. “The nearly six million people who come to Las Vegas every year for a meeting, convention or trade show, help fill hotel rooms midweek, support tens of thousands of jobs and they significantly contribute to the local economy.”
Ralenkotter went on to tell audiences that people don’t understand the MICE industry’s integral importance. “We’re bigger than the automobile industry. We allow people to interface despite the great technology for communication. We even have a seat at the travel and tourism table in Washington.”
The event keynote was delivered by Roger Dow, president and CEO of US Travel Association who said the day provided “ a wonderful opportunity for meetings and events industry leaders to come together and showcase the profound impact of this critical sector on businesses, communities and the economy”.
“I like to say that there’s no technology that can replace a handshake. The power of the unplanned interactions that so often occur at in-person meetings cannot be overstated. They are what build relationships, drive collaboration and spark ideas.”
Dow added that Global Meetings Industry Day was celebrated in 130 countries, with 13m tweets, and that it has been trending on Twitter.
He added: “Vegas keeps amazing me. In 1998 this wasn’t the meetings capital, then spaces came up quickly and we have more than whole towns and cities. What happens in the meetings industry happens in Las Vegas”.
Elsewhere, Michael Dominguez, Meetings Mean Business’ co-chair and senior vice-president of corporate sales at MGM Resorts International said: “I am so proud that something that started as a Canadian MPI initiative has organically grown into a global day of recognition for the power of face-to-face meetings.”
Michael Massari, treasurer of the US Travel Association and senior vice-president of national meetings and events at Caesars Entertainment added: “We have a saying that nothing good ever happened until someone had a meeting, and this is true when we’re talking about the value and power of connecting with someone face-to-face.
“We were once labelled the invisible industry but our value is unmistakable. That’s what makes an event like Global Meetings Industry Day so important. It allows us to celebrate our worth together as an industry while establishing the value to business, communities and the economy to the world.”
