My first IMEX America 2024 meeting this October was an early Smart Monday conversation on property with Tony Yousfi, chief sales officer at Venetian Resort Las Vegas.
The Venetian’s convention center was buzzing with Global Gaming Expo action, which attracted record visitation of 25,000-plus attendees. IMEX America concurrently set all new milestones, including 15,500-plus attendees.
That’s 41,500-plus people combined for just two shows. MGM Resorts International had at least 26 other group bookings that week, including the three-day, 5,200-attendee Groceryshop 2024 show at Mandalay Bay on the level above IMEX America. Vegas meetings mean business to an infinite degree.
My own six-day, 86,000-step odyssey included a 44-hour sleepless stretch around witnessing the Tropicana Las Vegas implosion. “Go big or go home” is the Nevada way, keeping groups coming back for more.
Vegas Power on Multiple Fronts
“We transformed around 200,000 square feet of space in two and a half months without disruption,” Yousfi explained as we strolled Level 2, the first completed floor of the phased $188 million makeover of the Venetian Convention & Expo Center. Acknowledging “the many contracted groups that graciously moved to different levels to make it work,” he pointed out updates that included brilliant blue carpeting, digital signage and the immense pillarless Venetian Ballroom.
Part of a $1.5 billion resort-wide transformation, the reinvestment, targeting completion by 2026, includes private in-house broadcasting and an exclusive 10,000-square-foot executive lounge.
Convention clients rule the roost.
“That’s been in our DNA since opening in 1999,” Yousfi said. “Back then, nobody in town was investing in the group market like today. We created a new pinnacle identity for Las Vegas, and 25 years later, everything in this building continues to revolve around MICE business.”
The rest of the day was a whirlwind by foot, bus, Uber and Las Vegas Monorail on and off the Strip for meetings with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority (LVCVA), educational sessions at Mandalay Bay and a reception at Wynn Las Vegas’ magical Mizumi restaurant, where guests included Wynn’s K-9 team.
[Related: All of Our IMEX 2024 Coverage in One Place]
Checking in With MGM Resorts International
The next day started at 4 a.m. preparing for a packed IMEX schedule. Vegas-related highlights included a sustainability-focused conversation with MGM Resorts International Chief Sales Officer & Senior Vice President Stephanie Glanzer.
“We cover multiple sustainability bases,” she said. “Planners can choose from a four-tiered plan that includes event operations, signage and sponsorship, food and beverage, and teambuilding tied to community giveback, such as assembling packages for the food insecure.”
As post-pandemic business travel becomes more purposeful, MGM is making wellness a holistic ROI priority for groups.
“Time on the road means more than ever now,” she said. “Attendees should be able to achieve their meeting objectives without getting overwhelmed. That means eating well and exercising as they would back home and having time to answer e-mails and call loved ones. Everyone in our industry benefits from incorporating these ROI moments.”
The community-first approach includes sustaining Vegas’ standing in the hyper-competitive group market. “Special events come and go, but conventions are the foundation of our city, which makes innovation and change integral to that ROI story and giving groups continuous reasons to come back,” Glanzer said.
At 5 p.m., it was round-trip via the Monorail to Sahara Las Vegas for dinner with Visit Atlantic City, then back south for check-in at a parking lot reserved for the Tropicana event.
[Related: The Birthplace of the Las Vegas Strip Is Experiencing a Multibillion-Dollar Revival]
Ready for the Tropicana Implosion!
Vegas implosions, starting in 1993 with The Dunes, traditionally have public viewing areas. The Tropicana was safety-restricted, though, with street closures starting at 11 p.m. ahead of the main event at 2:30 a.m. Arriving at 10:30 p.m., my four-hour wait, stationed next to a fun crew from The Today Show, included speaking with Bally’s Corporation Chairman Soo Kim.
“Our aspiration is to be an international gaming player, which requires having a presence in Las Vegas,” Kim said. “While storied, the Tropicana was obsolete, and we saw something more valuable for the 35-acre site. Tonight sets the stage for welcoming a baseball team (the relocating Oakland A’s) with a $1.5 billion, 30,000-seat stadium. Now it’s on us to deliver, and I’ve got until spring of 2028 to get it done.”
Preliminary plans for the phased concurrent construction of an integrated resort on the site include 3,000 rooms in three hotel towers and 110,000 square feet of meeting space, plus restaurants and retail outlets.
Citing favorable indications from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, LVCVA CEO and President Steve Hill expressed strong optimism for an NBA expansion team coming to Vegas.
“Sports leagues see how this city helps teams like the NHL’s Golden Knights and WNBA’s Aces succeed and want to be part of that,” he said. “Vegas amplifies events and events amplify Vegas.”
Former Folies Bergeres showgirls Sheri Mirault and Teri Thorndike reminisced about the good times at the Tropicana in the 1970s, including after-hours fun with Raquel Welch, Sonny & Cher and other friends.
Following ceremonial speeches and a spectacular seven-minute display of fireworks—and skywriting by 555 drones—it was a final farewell to the Tropicana as 2,190 pounds of explosives dropped the 1957 icon’s two towers, sending a blast wave our way.
The party continued as the dust cloud settled. Around 3:30 a.m., I trekked the mile-plus to Paris Las Vegas. The scene was surreal as water trucks and sweepers cleaned the dust-covered Strip, backed by the smoldering wreckage of the Trop’s Paradise Tower. Back in my room at 4:45 a.m. and due downstairs at 6:45 a.m., sleep never came.
Bringing It Home
Caesars Palace opened in 1966 with an oval design that founder Jay Sarno believed promoted relaxation. Today, wellness is a Caesars Entertainment pillar, including a unique “feel good” event to start day two. Produced by Caesars in concert with Meeting Professionals International and the LVCVA, the inaugural “Media & Momentum: A Morning of Recognition and Impact” honored members of the meetings and event trade press.
This uplifting tribute, which included a scholarship donation to UNLV’s hospitality college, reflects Caesars’s devotion to taking care of people.
“We work hard to identify and evaluate trends that can enhance group programs,” said Caesars Entertainment Chief Sales Officer Michael Massari at our subsequent meeting at Mandalay Bay, where IMEX America was being held. “Looking at McKinsey & Company’s latest ‘Future of Wellness” study, we saw a strong business case for providing wellness speakers, practitioners and activations for our conferences and events.”
McKinsey projects wellness spending to top $1.8 trillion globally this year, including $480 billion in the U.S., with 5% to 10% annual growth. Eighty-two percent of U.S. consumers prioritize wellness in their everyday lives, driven by Gen Z and Millennials.
Massari called Caesars’s approach to wellness “a natural outgrowth of who we are as an organization and a way to foster community and engagement.”
Other conversations including learning from LVCVA National Sales Manager Jim McMichael on the strong LGBTQ vertical for Vegas conventions, meetings and events. Steve Hill joined Las Vegas Raiders President Sandra Morgan and UFC Senior EVP and COO Lawrence Epstein in discussing how cross-pollinating elements from sports, entertainment and events is creating a hotbed of innovation and amplifying overall impact in Vegas.
As the sun went down, it was a final push with dinner at Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan’s Four Sixes Ranch Steakhouse pop-up restaurant at Wynn Las Vegas before swinging by MPI’s Rendezvous party and then lights out at midnight.
It was a history-making IMEX in every way.
