It seemed unimaginable at the end of 2019 that a city known for its 24-hour energy would fall silent for months—darkened hotel windows, shuttered exhibit booths, quiet casino floors. Yet Las Vegas has staged a powerful comeback. The city is once again a magnet for meetings and events, regaining its role as a premier business and networking destination. In July 2022 more than 300,000 meeting attendees arrived in Las Vegas—almost double the count from the previous year.
When much of the world shut down in March 2020, the meetings and convention industry was among the hardest hit. A city with some 14 million square feet of meeting space felt the impact acutely when attendees stayed away for safety reasons.
© Resorts World
Las Vegas rarely waits for recovery—developers kept building, innovators continued to innovate, and many hotels used the pause to renovate while still accommodating guests. As the Western Hemisphere’s largest collection of meeting facilities welcomes major conferences again, visitors will encounter new venues, attractions and improved ways to navigate the city.
The city is home to three of the 10 largest meeting and convention facilities in the United States. The Las Vegas Convention Center, already one of the world’s largest exhibit campuses, used the downtime to refresh and expand. It added connections, including a subterranean transit link to the Resorts World complex that opened in 2021. For a modest fee, convention attendees can ride a rechargeable Tesla through an underground tunnel to different convention stops or to one of 3,500 rooms across three hotels at Resorts World—Hilton, Conrad and Crockfords.
This is the beginning of the Vegas Loop, a larger vision to link at least 50 locations via about 29 miles of tunnels beneath the city. The system promises to reduce long walks and avoid the desert heat that can challenge visitors. The Loop complements the existing monorail, which also connects the convention center with hotels further down The Strip.
The Resorts World complex boosted Las Vegas’ entertainment lineup with major residencies and concerts from performers such as Katy Perry, Celine Dion and Carrie Underwood. More acts, including David Blaine and Kevin Hart, have been scheduled. All three hotels in the Resorts World campus earned LEED Gold Certification, highlighting a focus on energy efficiency and sustainability.
© Resorts World
The Wynn and Encore complex added 300,000 square feet of meeting space this year, spread across 18 rooms plus terraces and lawn areas, and did so with sustainability in mind. The expansion is powered by 100 percent renewable energy sourced from a remote 160-acre solar facility together with on-site rooftop solar arrays.
Virgin Hotels opened in Las Vegas in 2021. In the past year, several major properties completed room renovations, including Nobu Hotel Caesars Palace, Aria, Harrah’s, Waldorf Astoria and Wynn Las Vegas. A new 67-story Fontainebleau tower is scheduled to open in late 2023.
Beyond the convention halls, Las Vegas offers ample entertainment options: professional sports, thrill rides, notable museums and extensive shopping. The city easily supports a full week of entertainment without gambling, and many celebrity chefs maintain restaurants along The Strip.
McCarran International Airport (now Harry Reid International Airport) handles more than 1,000 daily flights and provides direct service to roughly 150 cities domestically and internationally, making Las Vegas an accessible choice for attendees traveling from across the country or around the world. From large marquee conferences to smaller corporate gatherings, Las Vegas remains a reliable choice for event planners.
Unique Venues
Las Vegas offers venues for every size and format. In addition to the Las Vegas Convention Center’s nearly 3 million square feet of exhibit and meeting floor, major hotel properties provide significant event facilities: Mandalay Bay offers roughly 2.1 million square feet, and The Venetian Expo provides about 1.7 million square feet. More than 20 hotels and event centers each offer at least 100,000 square feet for conferences. Another 571,000 square feet of meeting space and 4,254 hotel rooms were scheduled to be added in 2023, expanding capacity further.
One of the most anticipated additions is the MSG Sphere, which began construction early in the decade and opened in 2023. This innovative “multisensory” venue features a giant exterior sphere and immersive interior experiences. Located behind The Venetian, the Sphere stands more than 350 feet tall and about 500 feet wide, making it the world’s largest spherical structure. Outfitted with roughly 164,000 speakers and seating for up to 20,000, the venue is designed to host concerts, sporting events, corporate gatherings, product launches, award shows, film screenings and other large-scale productions, offering a unique option for event planners and audiences alike.