Thousands in the mining industry are digging Las Vegas this week. MINExpo International 2012, a mining convention that occurs every four years, opened its doors Monday at the Las Vegas Convention Center. An estimated 50,000 people from 112 countries are expected to attend this year’s three-day event, which includes an 850,000-square-foot trade show with 1,860 exhibitors.
When it comes to cheating on your spouse, there's no place like Las Vegas. Many of those surveyed by the controversial AshleyMadison.com dating website for married people seeking extramarital affairs say Las Vegas is the place to stay for love in the fast lane.
The Nevada Taxicab Authority is keeping cab fares where they are and won’t allow companies to increase their fleets for now. In unanimous votes Monday, the five-member panel, which regulates the 16 cab companies operating in Clark County, agreed to keep rates at $2.60 a mile after a $3.30 “drop fee” and ordered no new allocations for additional cabs.
Las Vegas has a solid reputation as the king of convention hosts. Last year, the city was home to more than 19,000 conventions, trade shows, conferences and meetings that close to 5 million people attended.
Can’t help but imagine what a big league ballpark could do for downtown Las Vegas
Monday, Sept. 24, 2012
When I look at the transformation worn-out or never-had-a-chance neighborhoods have had after baseball stadiums were built there, I get that glimmer of hope that resides in all baseball fans.
McCarran International Airport will have the eighth greatest expansion in passenger “enplanements” by percentage among major U.S. airports over the next five years, a leading aviation industry consultant says.
Anti-gambling stance could prevent expansion of industry, damage state economy
Monday, Sept. 17, 2012
One of the reasons so many people hate politics is that well-meaning leaders often do more harm than good when they try to legislate public policy. The Republican Party’s attempt to protect people from themselves by pledging to oppose online gambling illustrates that point.
A timeshare management company has moved its 120-seat call center to Las Vegas from Mexico City. ResortCom International has hired 36 employees, including eight managers.
Members of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada say it’s time to begin planning an intermodal transit center in Las Vegas to connect bus, train and monorail passengers at one location.
Eleven years ago, Tracey Johnson was working at a bank when she saw the horrors of the 9/11 tragedy spilling from her television. Today, she works for the Transportation Security Administration at McCarran International Airport.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has delayed a vote to extend the lease of the city’s minor-league baseball franchise at Cashman Field, saying it needs more information from the prospective new owners of the team.
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman says she’s ready to get behind a lobbying effort for legislation that would enable the state to collect tolls on Nevada highways.
Las Vegas had a slight dip in visitor volume in July compared with last year, and experts say it’s a result of the midweek Fourth of July holiday and a large convention that didn’t come to Las Vegas this year.
Department of Transportation director leaves behind a lasting legacy in Southern Nevada
Monday, Sept. 10, 2012
Susan Martinovich looked a little uncomfortable when Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Sen. Harry Reid singled her out for recognition at a recent event at McCarran International Airport.
It can be a smart move for tenants — and landlords
Monday, Sept. 10, 2012
As Southern Nevada’s economy crumbled during the Great Recession, many business owners had to make dramatic changes to survive. One strategy that emerged was lease renegotiation.
When thinking long-term, why stop at building an interstate?
Monday, Sept. 3, 2012
It surprised me a little when I asked Sen. Harry Reid and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood if the Interstate 11 designation would incorporate a high-speed rail piece to it and they said no.
Tony Marnell is a key figure in the development of XpressWest. Marnell spoke exclusively with VEGAS INC recently about the status of the first-of-its-kind project, its history and some of the misconceptions the public has about XpressWest specifically and high-speed-rail transportation in general.
As summer comes to its traditional close over the three-day Labor Day weekend, it may be time for one last hurrah with some extreme activity you never thought about doing. What better place to go big in than Las Vegas? The valley is filled with some of the world's biggest, wildest and best attractions and activities.
Spirit Airlines, the fastest growing commercial carrier at McCarran International Airport last year, is adding nonstop service to Houston Intercontinental Airport.
Airline’s acquisitions give it flexibility in travel industry, could affect Las Vegas tourism
Monday, Aug. 27, 2012
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.
Pilots for Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air will soon be represented by a union based in Wilmington, Ohio, but they'll have to fly Southwest to Columbus or Delta to Cincinnati if they want to attend any meetings there. Allegiant doesn't fly to any city in Ohio from Las Vegas.
Senator discusses airport name change, accomplishments in Southern Nevada transportation during tour
Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has weighed in on renaming McCarran International Airport — he’s for it. Named for former Nevada Sen. Patrick McCarran the airport has become the focus of a name change debate among Clark County leaders and the local tourism industry.
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.
Airlines make a smooth transition to T3, but the same can’t be said about Customs
Monday, Aug. 20, 2012
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.
The Regional Transportation Commission later this month will unveil a new mobile website accessible by smartphone that will enable users to determine when a bus will arrive at a stop.
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. ...
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.
Last month, the labor contract between the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada and the Service Employees International Union looked like a done deal.
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.
Allegiant Air revealed two more pieces of its Hawaii air service strategy, announcing nonstop flights linking Boise, Idaho, and Spokane, Wash., with Honolulu. The Las Vegas-based discount air carrier also said it also would begin nonstop flights between Boise and Las Vegas twice a week beginning Oct. 26. Allegiant will compete on the route with Southwest Airlines, which has two daily nonstop flights between Boise and Las Vegas.
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 school.
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.
Let the confusion begin at McCarran International Airport. One month after opening the airport’s new Terminal 3, the second round of airline move-ins begins Tuesday — a shuffle that will reduce airport congestion but is bound to confuse passengers who have always gone to Terminal 1. Five airlines — Alaska, Frontier, JetBlue, Sun Country and Virgin America — are moving their ticket counters, check-in and baggage claim facilities to the new $2.4 billion terminal building east of the main concourse.
Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air will introduce a new aircraft type to its fleet next year, company officials announced. Allegiant will lease nine twin-engine Airbus A319 jets and buy 10 more.
One of the cornerstones of Gov. Brian Sandoval’s election campaign was to revamp the state’s economic development program to diversify Nevada’s economy, which was decimated by the effects of the Great Recession.
Olympic bids are more about money than the spirit of competition
Monday, July 30, 2012
When the curtain rose on the Olympic Games over the weekend, millions of people saw Big Ben, Tower Bridge, the London Eye and other icons. That’s exactly the kind of publicity Nevada hoped to get in 2022.
The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority is endorsing XPressWest’s $5.5 billion loan application to build a high-speed train between Las Vegas and Victorville, Calif., a key piece in the bid to link Southern Nevada with Los Angeles.
One of Southern Nevada’s top convention contractors overachieved in the second quarter, driving higher earnings for Phoenix-based Viad Corp. Global Experience Specialists, the Las Vegas-based Marketing and Events Group subsidiary of Viad, helped drive a 15.5 percent increase in operating income for the division for the quarter that ended June 30.
If a foreign online gaming company took wagers from U.S. customers before the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was enacted, should that company be banned from being licensed in Nevada? That was one of several philosophical conversations members of the Gaming Policy Committee had Wednesday as the 11-member panel wrapped up business with five policy recommendations that will go to Nevada lawmakers in advance of next year’s legislative session.
A businessman who operates car dealerships in Southern Nevada and Aurora, Colo. is spearheading a fund drive to benefit the victims and first responders of the Aurora theater shootings last week.
A company that monitors special airline fees says Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air generated 27 percent of its revenue from ancillary sources, the third-highest percentage among 50 airlines worldwide.
Be prepared for a little confusion about where to go for airport arrivals, departures
Monday, July 23, 2012
As Las Vegas International Airport — er, McCarran International Airport — moves into the next phase of Terminal 3, there are still a few housekeeping matters to tend to. Next week, some domestic air carriers will move their ticket counters into the new building. That means locals will have to start paying closer attention to where they pick up friends and family and where they park or get dropped off.
My wife and I are not huge movie fans, but we’ll occasionally take in a film, especially when we’re on vacation. Today, we’re counting our blessings that we didn’t go to last night’s midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises,” where a lone gunman shot and killed 12 people in the Century 16 Theater complex at the Aurora Mall.
Big Bear Lake in Southern California is offering refuge from Southern Nevada’s heat this month. That got me to thinking about whether someday the Mount Charleston area could develop into a bigger summer haven than it already is — and if local residents would want to see that.