Tourism

Spirit Airlines adds Las Vegas-Houston route to its lineup

A Spirit Airlines jet takes off from McCarran International Airport on Friday, Aug. 26, 2011.

Spirit Airlines, the fastest growing commercial carrier at McCarran International Airport last year, is adding nonstop service to Houston Intercontinental Airport.

28 August 2012
By Richard N. Velotta

AAA forecasts travel to increase for 2012 Labor Day weekend

If you’re planning to mark the end of the summer by hitting the road for the Labor Day holiday this weekend, you’re not alone. More than 2.4 million people from Mountain West region are expected to travel at least 50 miles over the holiday weekend.

27 August 2012
By Cristina Chang

Medical tourism in practice

Unless you’ve been comatose, you’ve probably heard by now plenty about the concept of medical tourism in Las Vegas. It’s the talk of the town, given our clinics, attractions, tourist access and climate. Other places like it, too, and it’s a concept you can see at work just down the highway from here — in Goodyear, a suburb southwest of Phoenix.

27 August 2012
By Bruce Spotleson

Allegiant Air's new planes bring new plans

When executives at Allegiant Air made their surprise announcement last month about plans to acquire 19 Airbus A319 jets over the next three years, it was big news. It could have important implications for Southern Nevada’s tourism outlook.

27 August 2012
By Richard N. Velotta

Airlines can tell passengers what they can't wear

In this spring 2012 photo provided by a woman identified as Avital and made available to the blog Jezebel, Avital poses for a picture at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, showing what she was wearing after she says a Southwest Airlines gate agent approached her, alleging that she was showing too much cleavage.

Airlines give many reasons for refusing to let you board, but none stir as much debate as this: How you're dressed.

25 August 2012
By David Koenig, Associated Press

Prince Harry's naked shenanigans good for Las Vegas tourism

Prince Harry, seen here smiling in Rio de Janeiro in March, has found himself in hot water now that naked photos of him partying in Las Vegas have been leaked. "Harry has always been exuberant and it's just the way he lets off steam," a source told the Daily Mail.

Thank you, Prince Harry. Your royal romp at the Wynn Encore Tower Suites earlier this week gave Las Vegas a nice end-of-the-summer tourism bump.

25 August 2012
By Richard N. Velotta

Too few Customs agents at McCarran means long lines for international visitors

A family strolls in the E Gate area during an open house at the new Terminal 3 at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas on Saturday, June 9, 2012.

Excited passengers deplane in Las Vegas from Canada, Mexico or Great Britain, ready to hit the Strip, catch a show or place a bet. Instead, they stand in lines at the airport for up to two hours. That’s not good for tourism or the economy, local officials say. And it happens frequently at McCarran International Airport.

22 August 2012
By Richard N. Velotta

Doing the McCarran shuffle

This week marks the last shuffle of airlines into McCarran International Airport’s Terminal 3. But it’s just the beginning of trying to solve a problem there that was foreseen months ago and needs to be fixed before it gets out of hand. All is not well with international arrivals.

20 August 2012
By Richard N. Velotta

For $6,800, Las Vegas visitors can live the life of James Bond

For $6,800, Las Vegas visitors can live the life of James Bond

A Las Vegas tour company just launched a three-day, two-person Las Vegas bonding experience — as in James Bond. The “Secret Agent 702” tour gives couples a chance to live the adventures of a spy. ...

10 August 2012
By Richard N. Velotta

Las Vegas sees slight climb in visitor numbers

Attendees crowd the trade show floor during the IFT Food Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center, June 25, 2012.

Visitor volume showed a moderate increase in June over last year, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported Thursday, and for the first half of 2012, visitation is on pace to fall just short of an unprecedented 40 million tourists. The authority said 3.4 million people visited Las Vegas in June, 2.1 percent more than in June a year ago. For the first half of 2012, 19.9 million visitors arrived in the city, 2.4 percent more than in the first six months of 2011.

9 August 2012
By Richard N. Velotta

Las Vegas lands third, behind Orlando, Fla., and Washington, D.C., for top convention destination

The Las Vegas Convention Center is seen May 17th, 2012.

A global meetings and event management technology company that connects convention and meeting planners with the places that host them has listed its 50 top meeting destinations in the United States — and Las Vegas doesn’t top the list.

9 August 2012
By Richard N. Velotta

Tourism Commission makes a risky call by committing $600,000 to sponsor air show

When the Nevada Tourism Commission approved spending $600,000 to sponsor the Reno National Championship Air Races, it took a big risk.

6 August 2012
By Richard N. Velotta

Consultant, professor look to bring training for high-speed rail to UNLV

Sen. Harry Reid speaks to the media about progress on the DesertXpress high-speed rail project Friday, March 25, 2011, at the UNLV Science and Engineering building. With him, from left, is Nevada Department of Transportation Director Susan Martinovich, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and UNLV President Neal Smatresk.

A transportation expert and a UNLV professor want to leverage Las Vegas’ potential as a high-speed rail transportation hub to develop a university program dedicated to the research and study of high-speed rail. Tom Skancke, a public affairs consultant and president and CEO of the Skancke Company, and Harry Teng, an associate professor at UNLV’s Howard Hughes College of Engineering, plan to take their proposal — which they have been refining for almost two years — to university administrators early next year. They hope to affiliate what they tentatively are calling the International High Speed Rail Institute with UNLV’s engineering ...

6 August 2012
By Richard N. Velotta

Cocktail waitresses make lifelong careers serving casino customers

Longtime Palace Station waitress Lynda Allan, seen Thursday, April 26, 2012, holds a photo of herself when she was first hired.

Waitressing in any other city would likely be considered a dead-end job. But here in Las Vegas ...

5 August 2012
By Ron Sylvester

Allegiant earnings soar, while Hawaii service off to strong start

An Allegiant Air jet takes off from McCarran International Airport on Friday, Aug. 26, 2011.

Las Vegas-based Allegiant Travel Co., parent company of Allegiant Air, doubled earnings over last year’s second quarter thanks to a combination of higher ancillary revenue, reduced operational costs and a decline in the price of fuel.

1 August 2012
By Richard N. Velotta
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