As part of our Best of 2011 look back at the year, we asked our local editors to share their—admittedly subjective—take on the most important things to happen in their markets this year. Here's what west coast editor Alesandra Dubin had to say.
The organizers of IMEX in Frankfurt brought the first IMEX America to the United States in October, sprawling the show over the Sands Expo, amid an atmosphere of optimism and steadily flowing business. (Indeed, the closing press conference revealed 30,000 meetings took place during the show.) The massive exhibition focusing on incentive travel, meetings, and events brought almost 2,000 exhibitors—substantially more than expected—representing 140 global destinations, 2,000 hosted buyers from around the world, and 1,700 non-hosted attendees.
The recession was widely known to be especially merciless in Las Vegas. But 2011 showed serious signs of rebound. Among them: Officials are forecasting 39 million visitors to the destination this year, only the second time in history the city would reach that mark, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Through the third quarter, the city experienced 19 consecutive months of growth in visitor volume and the average daily room rate. Occupancy at Las Vegas properties has increased more than four points to 85.2 percent, more than 20 points ahead of the national average. "After a year and a half of steady growth, we can say with confidence the tourism industry in Las Vegas is in recovery," Tom Collins, Clark County commissioner and visitors authority board chair, said in a statement. "We expect the growth we have seen to continue in 2012."
Insomniac Events' Electric Daisy Carnival might just be made for Las Vegas. In its previous home in Los Angeles, the electronic music festival was fraught with problems—among them the death last year of an under-age girl by overdose, and a riot at a premiere for a movie about the event. But in June, a move of the festival away from L.A. to Vegas was widely considered a success, with only routine criminal and health incidents reported among about 200,000 fans.
Young race car driver Dan Wheldon died in October after a fiery crash involving 15 cars in the Las Vegas Indy 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The remainder of the race was canceled, and emotional drivers did tribute laps in Wheldon's honor. A public memorial followed in Indianapolis (pictured), as did much speculation about the relative danger of the Vegas racetrack where the crash occurred.
Taking the prize as the city's hottest-ticket events to ring in 2011 was a multiday program to open the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, topped off with a mashup Jay-Z and Coldplay concert. Working with the venue's director of entertainment and special events, Rehan Choudry, Colin Cowie oversaw the massive-scale, detail-driven production.
More than 6,000 people from the worldwide motion picture theater industry took over Caesars Palace in March for the inaugural CinemaCon, the official convention of the trade organization known as the National Association of Theatre Owners. But though it had a new name, CinemaCon was not a new show: The event replaced the former, long-running ShoWest conference, which had its last go in 2010.
The show floor buzzed in August at Magic, the massive fashion trade event at the Las Vegas and Mandalay Bay convention centers, with related events all around town. But the impact of the event went well beyond the walls of the show's venues in Las Vegas: Digital and social media strategies have allowed Magic to transform from a twice-yearly program in town to a 365-day platform that reaches fashion industry people all over the world. The August show saw a 200 percent increase over the February show's exhibitor and attendee engagement with social technologies.
In August, Caesars Entertainment announced it tapped L.A. mall developer Caruso Affiliated to develop a massive entertainment, dining, hospitality, and retail district on the Las Vegas Strip. Known as the Linq, the $550-million complex will comprise more than 200,000 square feet of gross leasable area facing Caesars Palace, and will include a giant Ferris wheel—the tallest in the world at 550 feet—with transparent cabins that hold 40 people each. In preparation for the Linq, work is already underway on the Imperial Palace (which will be renamed), Flamingo, and Harrah's Las Vegas, and work on the wheel has begun off site. The project is slated for completion in 2013.
In 2011, the landmark Tropicana Las Vegas completed a $180 million overhaul, with upgrades like a redesigned facade; all-new rooms and suites; new amenities, restaurants, and bars; and entertainment and nightlife options, including Club Nikki. That space closed on December 11, with new nightlclub RPM slated to take its place with a December 30 opening.
In February, Lake Las Vegas’s shuttered Ritz-Carlton got a new lease on life by New Jersey-based Dolce Hotels & Resorts. The company reopened the former hotel as Ravella at Lake Las Vegas, with an eye toward attracting convention and meeting business. In addition to 349 guest rooms and suites and a huge spa, the property offers 39,000 square feet of meeting and social event space, including an 11,841-square-foot grand ballroom with 7,423 square feet of prefunction area, a 4,700-square-foot junior ballroom, 10 function rooms, and a lakeside, climate-controlled outdoor pavilion.
