FiFi, a Fontainebleau Las Vegas poodle mascot, pranced onto the stage to kick off Preview, the Vegas Chamber's annual business forecasting event that took place on Jan. 24. With the recent National Football League (NFL) Super Bowl LVIII, several major infrastructure projects in the works and lessons from the inaugural Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix race, Vegas is very much a happening place, bringing new opportunities for meeting planners.

Las Vegas drew more than 40.8 million visitors in 2023, the destination’s highest single-year total since the pandemic began. According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), the market closed out the year with almost 3.4 million visitors in December, a 2.7% increase from a year ago. The 12-month total was 5.2% higher than in 2022 and was the largest yearly total since the Las Vegas area attracted 42.5 million visitors in 2019.

“This was an epic year,” LVCVA CEO Steve Hill said in a presentation at Preview. “2023 was the best year in the history of Las Vegas. Every financial record was broken.”

Pointing to a highly successful five-month stretch, Hill noted a 20% year-over-year increase in convention and conference attendance at high-profile events—such as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), World of Concrete and AWS re:Invent—tourism and, of course, the first Las Vegas Grand Prix race that took place in November and “put the city on the global map.” Race week attracted 145,000 visitors and brought in over $561 million.

Las Vegas Grand Prix CEO Renee Wilm noted at Preview that for this year’s race, the footprint of what needs to be done will be significantly reduced and that there will be improvements to traffic management. There are also plans to better connect with the local community and organizations, possibly taking a page from the NFL playbook. The race has a contract with Clark County through 2032.

‘Sports capital of the world’

The momentum of the past several months culminated with the first Super Bowl in Las Vegas last month, the crown jewel in Vegas’ “sports capital of the world” vision.

The NFL partnered with Las Vegas to produce the largest number of community school programs around the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl LVIII Business Connect program focused on connecting small local businesses owned by women, minorities, veterans and members of the LGBQT+ community with Super Bowl contracts.

Sustainability was also top of mind for the NFL. Allegiant Stadium, which opened in 2020 and hosted Super Bowl LVIII, is a LEED Gold-certified facility, with a focus on water preservation, energy performance, waste reduction and other sustainability minded initiatives.

The Super Bowl Experience, where fans could get their photo with the Vince Lombardi Trophy or compete in a 40-yard dash against NFL players on LED screens, among other activities, took place Feb. 7-10 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, which is in the final stages of its $100 million remodel.

“MGM Resorts has a huge commitment to sustainability efforts of our industry and especially meetings,” said Ernest A. Stovall, vice president of sales, catering and convention services for Mandalay Bay, which features a 28-acre rooftop solar panel that produces 8.5 megawatts of power, powering 25% of the facility’s daytime electricity usage.

That “sports capital” reputation is also bringing Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athletics to Las Vegas. In his presentation at Preview, the team’s owner John Fisher said he was excited by how well the city’s fans have welcomed other sports teams, including the Las Vegas Aces, Las Vegas Raiders and Vegas Golden Knights.

“The degree of local support to professional sports is incredible,” he said.

The Athletics are scheduled to start playing here in 2028. The team’s new stadium is slated to be built on the current site of the Tropicana Casino Resort, which is closing on April 2. Where the team will play in the meantime is still up in the air.

New and notable for planners

Preview was hosted by Fontainebleau Las Vegas, the newest addition to the Las Vegas resort scene that opened in December 2023. The 67-story, 3,644-room luxury resort, almost two decades in the making, features 550,000 square feet of meeting space, including 33 meeting rooms with windows and a 105,000-square-foot pillarless ballroom. The meeting space is intentionally designed to be away from the general hotel traffic, creating a dedicated experience.

“One thing we’ve heard, consistently, from meeting planners is how amazed they are at the ‘guest/attendee’ journey and experience that Fontainebleau Las Vegas creates,” said Carmen Rubio Jr., VP of sales for Fontainebleau Las Vegas. “Our hallmark lies in providing a fresh and exciting approach, with 550,000 square feet of flexible space that not only keeps the attendee base together, giving us an unprecedented level of accessibility and making Fontainebleau Las Vegas a standout on the Strip. It truly is a game changer, and we take pride in weaving our luxury approach into the guest journey at every turn.”

The excitement of F1 can be felt year-round at the 300,000-square-foot Las Vegas Grand Prix Pit Building, which features four levels (three stories and a rooftop) of flexible indoor-outdoor event spaces. The garage level is comprised of 43 bays with flexible layouts and levels 2 and 3 feature over 64,000 square feet of indoor event space each, as well as outdoor balconies and terraces. The rooftop, an outdoor event space, offers unobstructed, 360-degree views of the Las Vegas Strip skyline and surrounding mountains. The new Grand Prix Plaza that houses the building features 39 acres of paved space that can used for temporary event structures, concert stages and outdoor activations, and can accommodate parking valet, and shuttle services.

In its first domestic expansion in sixty years, Peter Luger Steak House recently opened its Las Vegas location at Caesars Palace, serving sumptuous cuts of beef in an old-world charm setting. The venue can accommodate up to 200 seated guests and up to 350 for a reception. The private dining room holds 24.

“It was critical for us to be able to bring to Las Vegas the same menu, the same ambiance and—most important—the same quality beef that we are known for in New York, and Caesars was aligned with that vision,” said Amy Rubenstein, president of Peter Luger.

Parisian brasserie flavors from Eggs Royale to steak frites and raspberry clafoutis with vanilla cream are on the menu at the new Brasserie B by Bobby Flay that also recently opened at Caesars Palace. And, of course, their must-try French fries.

“During our nearly 20-year partnership with Bobby Flay, he has taken our guests around the world through his restaurants—from the American Southwest to the Mediterranean,” said Terrence O’Donnell, SVP and general manager of Caesars Palace. “Now, with Brasserie B, he introduces guests to a different cuisine inspired by his travels in France. We are excited to offer another incredible dining destination at our resort, especially for brunch and lunch.”

Transportation for event attendees will be easier with the expansion of the Vegas Loop, which will be adding the Westgate Station later this quarter and Encore Station in Q3 2024.

Keeping up with growth, the plans for a supplement airport south of Las Vegas are moving forward. The U.S. Department of Transportation has also recently approved $2.5 billion in private activity bonds for the Brightline West High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail project connecting Las Vegas and Southern California. The 218-mile, high-speed rail line will primarily run along the I-15 median with trains capable of reaching 186 mph, cutting the trip to two hours, half the time to travel by car. Brightline West’s $12 billion high-speed rail project is expected to be a fully electric, zero-emission system and one of the greenest forms of transportation in the U.S.