Richard N. Velotta

Story Archive

Symposium examines future look of slot machines, players
Friday, May 21, 2010
Who will be the slot machine players of the future when Baby Boomers sail into the sunset?
Townsend offers to be liaison between Gaming Commission, lawmakers
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Newly appointed Nevada Gaming Commission member Randolph Townsend is offering his experience with the Nevada Legislature — he had been a senator representing Washoe County since 1982 — to keep the gaming industry’s concerns before lawmakers.
LVCVA cuts ad spending, continues talks with union
Thursday, May 20, 2010
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority today approved a $211 million budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year that includes an 18.1 percent decrease in the amount of money spent for advertising.
LV Chamber CEO: 'Prosperity is going to happen again'
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
The new president and CEO of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce says the chamber would take a leadership role to bring the community together to pull Las Vegas out of the Great Recession.
Las Vegas tops convention list for 16th straight year
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Las Vegas has maintained its grip as the top destination on the Tradeshow Week 200, a list of the leading conventions and trade shows staged in North America in 2009.
Wynn Las Vegas apologizes for overbooking hotel
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
South San Francisco resident Ralyn Lee and some of her friends have been looking forward to a Las Vegas getaway since February. She and three girlfriends booked reservations at Wynn Las Vegas and planned a two-night stay and maybe a visit to the hotel’s spa.
Southwest Airlines parties hearty in downtown Las Vegas
Friday, May 14, 2010
Southwest Airlines is one of the best conduits for Southern Nevada’s tourism industry by bringing millions of people to Las Vegas every year.
Train plans sound similar? One side says too similar
Monday, May 10, 2010
In the battle of the trains between Las Vegas and Southern California, first came the competition between the backers of a magnetic-levitation transportation system and the more conventional steel-wheels-on-rails DesertXpress.
Q&A: Carole Fisher, president and CEO of Nathan Adelson Hospice
Friday, May 7, 2010
Carole Fisher has spent most of her career in jobs that helped sick people get well. Now, she heads a nonprofit operation that helps terminally ill people die in peace.
Nevada officials seek answers on maglev funds
Friday, May 7, 2010
Nevada political leaders are turning up the heat on the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to find out what happened to all the money the state was promised to start building a magnetic levitation transportation system between Las Vegas and Anaheim, Calif.
Low-speed train proposals clash
Friday, May 7, 2010
Southern Nevadans who have been watching the high-speed train story unfold are familiar with the verbal battle between the backers of a magnetic-levitation transportation system and the more conventional steel-wheels-on-rails DesertXpress train plan.
Gaming execs: Las Vegas business showing signs of improvement
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Operators of Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel say the free fall on hotel rates has ended in other properties run by the Morgans Hotel Group in other cities and a similar pattern is emerging in Las Vegas. Frederick Kleisner, CEO and a director for New York-based Morgans, told the state Gaming Control Board today that the company has seen a pattern of event-driven demand.
Arizona boycott unlikely to benefit Vegas tourism
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Arizona’s controversial new law aimed at illegal immigrants has some organizations considering canceling conventions and trade shows in Arizona, but the LVCVA is not trying to get those groups to move their events here. “While we certainly want to generate as much new business as we can, it’s not good business practice to capitalize on other destinations when they’re being unfairly portrayed or attacked,” said Vince Alberta, a spokesman for the LVCVA.
Little-known carrier WestJet really delivers for Las Vegas
Canadian airline, on a hot streak, provides big lift to McCarran
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Nothing says “international travel” like the sight of a Virgin Atlantic Airways’ Boeing 747 jumbo jet from London floating in over the Strip every day. But the foreign air carrier that delivers the most international passengers to Las Vegas isn’t a household name.
Pilots take to the classroom as to the air
Friday, April 30, 2010
Most teachers agree that a guest speaker is a valuable part of the learning experience.
WestJet is McCarran’s biggest growth story
Friday, April 30, 2010
Nothing says “international travel” like the sight of a Virgin Atlantic Airways’ Boeing 747 jumbo jet from London floating in over the Strip every day.
Loveman: Gaming suffering a hangover
Decades of excess finally bite industry as recession lingers
Friday, April 30, 2010
The gaming industry is suffering the effects of a massive hangover brought on by the excesses of success in the 1990s and early 2000s, Harrah’s Entertainment’s top executive told 700 financial executives.
Planned wind-turbine plant gathers gust of momentum
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
An international manufacturer of wind turbines has launched plans to build a plant in Southern Nevada, establishing its first manufacturing effort in the United States. The commitment by A-Power Energy Generation Systems, based in Shenyang, China, was marked in a gathering at UNLV on Tuesday among Chinese and U.S. government leaders and business partners from both nations.
McCarran removes any chance of free parking
Friday, April 23, 2010
As great an airport as McCarran International is for Southern Nevadans — you can hop on a nonstop flight to 133 destinations with average fares that are less expensive than just about anyplace else in the country — locals are not going to be happy with the new high-tech parking system.
Q&A: Howard Lefkowitz, president of VEGAS.com
Friday, April 23, 2010
Although VEGAS.com is the world’s largest city travel website, it’s only part of the story about the award-winning technology company that sells show and tour tickets to Las Vegas visitors.
Southwest Airlines posts $11 million profit in quarter
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, the market leader at McCarran International Airport, continued its bid for a 38th straight year of profitability today, narrowly finishing in the black in the first quarter of 2010.
Demand for summer getaways nudging room rates higher
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Las Vegas hotel rooms are more expensive this summer, and although tourists don’t like that, it’s great news for Southern Nevada because it means demand is going back up.
Southwest Airlines to end agreement with WestJet
Friday, April 16, 2010
Southwest Airlines is terminating its planned code-share agreement with WestJet Airlines, a deal that potentially could have benefited Las Vegas.
Summer tourism is set to sizzle
Airlines, resorts taking advantage of demand for Las Vegas vacations
Friday, April 16, 2010
Increased demand for Las Vegas vacations has bumped up hotel room prices and airfares for summer travel.
It’s not as fast, but this train could hit the rails sooner
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
As two companies compete to be the first to provide high-speed rail service between Las Vegas and Southern California, a third is saying it will have a train click-clacking along next year. Las Vegas Railway Express will provide conventional passenger rail service to and from Los Angeles.
Las Vegas to host prestigious 2011 global travel summit
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
A prestigious world tourism conference that local leaders are calling "the Olympics of the tourism industry" will meet in Las Vegas next year, bringing hundreds of government dignitaries and industry professionals to the Strip. The London-based World Travel & Tourism Council announced today that the 11th annual Global Travel & Tourism Summit would be conducted at CityCenter's Aria resort May 15-19, 2011.
Home entertainment may be cutting into casino time
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Mintel International, a data analysis company on consumer behavior and media, reports that although successful movies such as “Ocean’s Eleven” and “The Hangover” glamorize Las Vegas and gambling, fewer people are going to casinos.
3-D technology attracts 85,000 for NAB
Friday, April 9, 2010
An estimated 85,000 people will be in Las Vegas through next week for what usually is the city’s third-largest annual convention, the National Association of Broadcasters.
Q&A: Thom Reilly, executive director of the Harrah's Foundation
Friday, April 9, 2010
Las Vegas-based Harrah’s Entertainment is widely known as the company that owns Caesars Palace and other big Strip resorts.
Vegas Uncork’d brings a delicious demographic to area
Friday, April 9, 2010
There’s no question that fine dining has made its mark in Las Vegas with the numerous celebrity chefs who have a presence here.
Demand for service drives expansion
Henderson location opens despite new-car sales slowing down
Friday, April 9, 2010
Just because they work on expensive automobiles owned by people who seemingly have enough money to weather the economic storm, don’t think that Mercedes repair technicians haven’t had it tough during the Great Recession.
Cox Communications offering 3-D broadcast of Masters
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
One of the newest innovations in television broadcasting - 3-D images on screen - is being offered by Las Vegas' dominant cable television provider.
Virgin Atlantic to begin new nonstop air service to England
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Virgin Atlantic Airways, the British air carrier operated by its flamboyant top executive, adventurer Richard Branson, will start twice-weekly nonstop air service between Manchester, England, and Las Vegas next year.
Taxicab Authority OKs credit transactions for companies
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
The Nevada Taxicab Authority has authorized the city's two largest groups of taxi companies to accept credit and debit card transactions for a $3 fee, but the issue is far from over.
Depth of recession portends lengthy recovery period
Friday, April 2, 2010
Southern Nevada needs to capitalize on the strengths that have made it a world-class destination to get past the 13.8 percent unemployment rate and the record vacancies in the region’s residential, office, commercial and industrial real estate markets, an economics expert says.
State’s first tire recycling plant opens
LV facility produces crumb rubber, which has numerous uses
Friday, April 2, 2010
For years, Nevada residents sent their used tires — about 2 million a year — to the state’s landfills.
Q&A: Mike Skaggs, executive director of the Nevada Economic Development Commission
Friday, April 2, 2010
The diversification of Nevada’s economy always seems to come up when times are bad, as in, “The reason things are so bad in our state is that we’re too dependent on the gaming industry.”
Southwest-WestJet airline deal could be in jeopardy
Thursday, April 1, 2010
The proposed code-share partnership between Southwest Airlines, McCarran International Airport's busiest carrier, and WestJet Airlines, the largest source of international passengers to McCarran, might be in jeopardy.
High-speed rail: Will it be worth the wait for Nevadans?
As plans slowly jell, it seems our neighbors to the west will benefit the most
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
If Southern Nevadans are frustrated about what’s happening — or not happening — with high-speed rail in our part of the country, no wonder.
Tourism leaders consider scaled-down version of conference
Friday, March 26, 2010
The Nevada Commission on Tourism is considering reviving the Governor's Conference on Tourism with a low-budget gathering of industry leaders in December.
Slow rebound for McCarran traffic
Many airlines scaling back to recover
Friday, March 26, 2010
The airline industry’s recovery won’t necessarily lead to more flights in and out of Las Vegas, McCarran International Airport’s director told a Southern Nevada real estate organization.
Bank executive says stocks the place for investors to be in 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Investors should look to the stock market to make money this year, the chief investment officer of City National Bank told a Las Vegas economic forum group last week.
A different kind of March Madness for problem gamblers
Friday, March 26, 2010
For many sports fans, the best time of the year began last week and is continuing this weekend and next. March Madness.
Las Vegas to gain flight in Southwest reshuffling
Friday, March 26, 2010
Southwest Airlines will cut 116 of its 3,370 daily flights nationwide in August, but the good news for Las Vegas is that it will have a net gain of one daily flight as a result of the seasonal change.
Work on high-speed rail set to begin this year
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Environmental approvals for the proposed $4 billion DesertXpress high-speed rail project between Las Vegas and Southern California are taking longer than expected, but executives with the project said Thursday they expect construction to begin this year. "It's all just process and working through the details," DesertXpress Enterprises President Tom Stone said in a media briefing on the project.
Taxicab Authority delays decision on credit, debit card transactions
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The Nevada Taxicab Authority has delayed a decision on a proposal from a group of taxi companies that would have enabled them to accept credit card and debit card transactions for rides in their cabs.
Harry Reid: 'No one is stopping' maglev train proposal
Friday, March 19, 2010
Sen. Harry Reid says he isn’t standing in the way of funding for the proposed maglev transportation system between Las Vegas and Southern California and that "no one is stopping" that system from making progress. Reid issued a press release Friday in response to a column in which critics questioned his handling of funding needs for a high-speed transportation system for Southern Nevada.
I-15 widening boosts projects in NLV
Friday, March 19, 2010
The lengthy construction schedule last year on Interstate 15 north of the Spaghetti Bowl made for miserable motorists and headache-filled commutes.
And, apparently, smaller appetites for industrial real estate deals.
Circus RV park successfully tests Airstreams
Friday, March 19, 2010
About a year ago, when the weather was getting nice and people were starting to think about going camping, the folks at Billings, Mont.-based Kampgrounds of America — KOA Kampgrounds — came up with this crazy idea about parking some “silver bullet” Airstream trailers at their facilities and letting campers rent them like hotel rooms.
New tourism legislation should boost foreigners’ trips to Southern Nevada
Friday, March 19, 2010
Bruce Bommarito, U.S. Travel Association executive vice president and chief operating officer, tells a great story about how much the United States has been outspent by other countries marketing their tourism destinations.