Southwest Airlines has increased the number of scheduled connecting flights to Mexico through its partnership with Mexican air carrier Volaris and several of the new connections will be made through McCarran International Airport.
A Swiss aviator who has developed a jet-powered wing that he straps to his back will fly for the first time in the United States at a tourism attraction near Las Vegas. Yves Rossy, known as “JetMan,” plans to fly Friday at Grand Canyon West, 120 miles east of Las Vegas, an attraction managed by the Hualapai Indian Tribe. Southern Nevada aviation officials have been apprised of the flight and say Rossy will be in compliance with Federal Aviation Administration regulations.
Gaming industry leaders see a window to pass federal legislation legalizing Internet gambling, but a panel at Wednesday’s iGaming North America conference believes efforts are being slowed by the inability of the industry to develop a unified regulatory strategy.
Panelists addressing an Internet gambling conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday said online casinos would enhance business at brick-and-mortar properties instead of cannibalizing them.
Local tourism leaders say they’ll continue to stay vigilant against terrorist threats regardless of Sunday’s announcement that Navy SEALs had killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
Southwest plans to eliminate AirTran’s business class and coach compartments—that’s the part where loyal AirTrannies may cry a little. Today’s a big day for Southwest Airlines, the busiest commercial carrier by far at McCarran International Airport.
It’s time to retire the phrase “if Internet gambling is legalized.” By now, it’s clear that the approval of online wagering, particularly Internet poker, is not a matter of if but when.
The improving economy has helped Viad Corp, parent company of Las Vegas-based convention services contractor Global Experience Specialists, to a profitable quarter after a loss a year ago.
Earnings declined for Las Vegas-based Allegiant Travel Co., the parent company of Allegiant Air, which recorded its 33rd straight profitable quarter and saw revenue increase 13.9 percent for the three months that ended March 31.
While DesertXpress Enterprises awaits a record of decision from the Federal Railroad Administration that would enable it to begin building its privately funded high-speed rail line between Las Vegas and Victorville, Calif., residents of the city’s southwestern neighborhoods are growing wary of how the train line is going to affect them and their property.
The Nevada Taxicab Authority on Tuesday approved up to 80 additional cabs on city streets for the weekend of the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosely boxing match at the MGM Grand Garden.
Surprise! Rural Nevada smartly steps up gay and lesbian tourism strategy.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Listening to Mya Lake Reyes, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s director of diversity marketing and an expert on the LGBT travel market, talk about her compelling visual in her presentation about how to attract more gay and lesbian customers to a destination.
Soaring fuel costs, bad winter weather, more advertising and the additional expense of consultants hired to manage the purchase of AirTran Holdings dinged first-quarter earnings of Dallas-based Southwest Airlines.
Nothing the Nevada Taxicab Authority does is surprising anymore. The five-member board is arguably one of the most important tourism industry policy-makers because its representatives are on the front lines greeting tourists when they arrive in Las Vegas. Taxi drivers can deliver a great first impression as ambassadors to the city or they can set the tone for a bad trip.
Developing an interstate highway from Southern Arizona to the Pacific Northwest is vital to keeping tourists and goods flowing through Las Vegas, transportation experts say.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board of directors on Tuesday got its first look at a proposed budget for the 2012 fiscal year, a $230 million plan with revenue and spending on par with 2005 levels and a 7 percent reduction in advertising expenses compared to last year.
Hey, Vegas! Are we monetizing March Madness and spring training effectively?
Monday, April 11, 2011
If you’re a sports nerd, two of the biggest events to look forward to when the weather turns warm are the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament and spring training baseball. Las Vegas gets a nice taste of both every year.
For those Las Vegas tourism enterprises that think they’ve had it rough during the Great Recession, consider the plight of companies in rural counties.
Nevada is in the hunt for $2.4 billion in high-speed rail funding rejected by Florida Gov. Rick Scott. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Wednesday said the Federal Railroad Administration has started evaluating more than 90 high-speed rail proposals totaling nearly $10 billion.
Once the economy gets back on track, the 16 acres across Paradise Road from the Las Vegas Convention Center could be developed into a 3,500-room resort hotel, the state Gaming Control Board was told Wednesday.
Kristin McMillan, the top executive at Southern Nevada’s primary telecommunications company, CenturyLink, has been named president and CEO of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce. She succeeds Matt Crosson, who died Dec. 24.
Cab rides will be getting more expensive next month after the Nevada Taxicab Authority on Tuesday approved a 20-cent-per-mile fuel surcharge to compensate companies and drivers stung by the rising cost of gasoline.
Southwest Airlines expects its flight schedule will be back to normal Tuesday after three days of disruptions resulting from the company’s decision to remove 79 aircraft from service for inspections after a jet made an emergency landing Friday.
Here’s the checklist for a recent press conference designed to boost public confidence in a $6 billion high-speed rail line being built between Las Vegas and Southern California:
Earthquakes, floods, blackouts, toxins, terrorists—can Las Vegas (and its businesses) handle the unthinkable? We ask the really scary questions.
Monday, April 4, 2011
For a city whose fortunes have been built on the luck of the draw, Las Vegas has had it pretty good on the disaster front. We never get tornadoes or hurricanes. But a microburst during a thunderstorm did knock down a $9 million Las Vegas Hilton sign in 1994.
In 2004, the No. 3 air carrier in Great Britain, bmi, struck gold when it began flying nonstop flights three times a week between Manchester, England, and Las Vegas.
How successful do executives of Mexican discount air carrier Volaris think its new nonstop air service between Guadalajara and Las Vegas will be? Successful enough to announce on the day of its inaugural flight that it is adding service on May 20.
I never thought much about traveling to Asia until the day former Sun Executive Editor Mike O’Callaghan called me into his office one day and asked me if I’d like to go to Taiwan as part of a program the Taiwanese government had developed.
Officials say report is a step forward in Obama's transportation plans
Friday, March 25, 2011
DesertXpress, a proposed $6 billion high-speed rail line that would link Las Vegas with Victorville, Calif., cleared another major hurdle Friday with the Federal Railroad Administration’s release of its final environmental report on the route.
The Nevada Gaming Commission approved the suitability of a relationship between Caesars Entertainment with subsidiaries of an Israel-based Internet gaming company.
Two local companies will receive tax abatement incentives from the Nevada Commission on Economic Development to expand their businesses in Southern Nevada. Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved incentives for Ken’s Food Inc., Las Vegas, and Henderson-based Barbour Well Inc.
The closure of the Sahara hotel-casino is likely to harm the bankrupt Las Vegas Monorail, which has a station at the Sahara that is the transportation system’s northern terminus and a connecting point to the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada’s bus transit system.
The state Gaming Control Board today approved the suitability of a relationship between Caesars Entertainment with subsidiaries of an Israel-based Internet gaming company operating in the United Kingdom’s overseas territory of Gibraltar.
Union hoping to be credited for for days worked for PERS purposes
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
With room tax collections slowly recovering, members of the union representing workers of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority have informally asked the organization’s board of directors to consider refunding them for furlough days they lost.
The Nevada Department of Transportation on Monday took its first step toward developing a state rail plan that, when completed, would make Nevada eligible for future federal railroad funding.
The huge change in Southwest Airlines’ Rapid Rewards loyalty card program is about to begin. After about six weeks of explaining how “Rapid Rewards 2.0” will work, the Dallas-based airline will make the official switch to the new system March 1.
Regulators approved registrations and licensing of companies that will enable the Hard Rock Hotel casino to remain open during a transaction that would resolve financial issues.
“Wanted: Nevada Taxicab Authority administrator. Must take direction from an inexperienced board of directors just learning the job. Must be willing to take criticism from 16 taxi company executives, two unions and George Knapp. Hours: Long (some say ‘never-ending’). Compensation: Little (it’s a thankless job). Inquire with the Nevada Taxicab Authority.”
A new charter air carrier that will distinctly link itself by name to Las Vegas and increase the number of seats coming in from the New York market by nearly 50 percent plans to begin operations by summer.
High-speed rail company after nearly $5 billion loan
Monday, Feb. 21, 2011
Ever since plans to build a high-speed train from Las Vegas to Victorville, Calif., were unveiled, developers have been adamant about one point — they wouldn’t ask taxpayers to fund it. But DesertXpress Enterprises has no qualms about borrowing from taxpayers — and borrowing big — for a project that skeptics say has little chance of gaining the ridership needed to pay for it.
The Las Vegas-based Asian Chamber of Commerce will become one of the Nevada Commission on Economic Development’s official representatives to China, commissioners agreed Tuesday.