Meetings Today (MT) spoke with Tony Yousfi, VP of Sales, ARIA Resort & Casino, regarding the resort’s massive $154 million convention center expansion, set to add 200,000 square feet of meeting space to the property, resulting in a grand total of more than 500,000 square feet of total event space.
MT: What prompted the addition of the extra meeting space?
Yousfi: We had a record year in 2015, the demand is unbelievably strong right now from the corporate segment, which prompts us to really take a look at the future and what it has [in store] for us. We’ve been seeing attendance, registration and groups all growing in size with more and more attendees.
74% of our business is the corporate segment and the majority of that business is tech, and the Silicon Valley/West Coast tech sector is bringing in the majority of events here at ARIA. And that’s a tribute to ARIA and the focus on technology from the moment you enter the building and its spaces.
MT: What are your expectations for meetings business in 2016?
Yousfi: Interestingly enough, we are going into the year with the most amount of group room nights we’ve ever gone into the year with for the year … we always like to leave some room in there for the last minute high-end corporate business, however, the demand has been so strong in Las Vegas and for ARIA that we’re able to pick and choose the conferences that we’re going after.
MT: The big 200,000-square-foot addition is not expected to be completed until 2018. Do you have any concern that there might be another economic downturn in the meantime?
Yousfi: I wish we all had that crystal ball … the one good thing—companies are booking further out and just from our announcement yesterday, we already have groups that want to occupy the new existing space, and really we have a whole lot of business already booked in 2018.
We’re already looking at 2019, 2020 and 2021 as far as what we’re booking.
MT: Sustainability has been big with ARIA, I assume all the new convention space is taking that into consideration and maintaining the standards you have been setting for that?
Yousfi: We are truly passionate [about sustainability], from the hotel operations to the sales teams, it’s a very important part of the business for us and the way we do business. The same standards are going to be built into and followed within the new-build convention facility.
MT: Are there any other additions you are excited for in 2016?
Yousfi: Great things are happening, I’ll start selfishly talking about the current meeting space, we just invested millions into getting new carpet, tile, furniture, built-in technology, media walls, basically a redesign of the existing space, and that shows the commitment of the hotel and MGM Resorts to invest.
We also have a new restaurant Herringbone opening at the end of December and Carbone just opened a few months ago, a couple of new lounges and a new club will open April/May of 2016—Jewel Nightclub.
MT: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Yousfi: This upgrade is really a game changer for us … giving us the capability to do a meeting space from 10 to 20 to 100, and now taking it to large-scale conferences with 3,000 to 4,000+ attendees.
Click here to read the full news report on the upcoming expansion.