Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Harrah’s hopes to grab larger share of convention industry

Harrah's Entertainment Inc. is positioning itself to be a bigger player in the Las Vegas meetings industry with an expansion at the Rio opening in May and the acquisition of more halls in its Caesars Entertainment Inc. deal.

Rio convention services executives recently invited media representatives to see their 60,000-square-foot, $39 million Rio Pavilion Convention Center expansion.

"It's a highly competitive market," said Steve van der Molen, assistant director of convention services at the Rio, of the conventions and meetings market in Las Vegas. "This addition will give us a great deal of flexibility in meeting the needs of our customers so that we can develop loyalty and repeat business."

The 2,500-room Rio plans to open the new space, configured to the north of the resort's existing convention facilities, on May 1. The convention center already has 110,000 square feet of convention space and the addition will provide a seamless series of ballrooms and breakout rooms with several different configurations.

"Our flexible air walls will enable us to offer the space in a variety of ways," van der Molen said.

When construction is completed, the facility will have two loading docks and two kitchens to service three ballrooms. A business center will produce signs and banners and perform binding, copying, lamination and shipping services.

Van der Molen said the additional kitchen amenities would enable the Rio to handle meal service for 5,000 guests, up from 3,000.

"We'll be able to take on larger groups that couldn't fit in one location," he said.

The Rio has hosted several large shows, including a corporate gathering for the Bryant Carrier Air Co., and the National RV Dealers Association's International Convention and Expo.

In the latter event, recreational vehicles are wheeled onto the trade show floor.

In addition to increasing space at the Rio, Harrah's would add to its inventory of convention space by acquiring properties from Caesars Entertainment in its $9.4 billion deal announced last year.

Harrah's spokesman Gary Thompson said it would be premature to discuss the convention industry's impact on the merged companies since regulators still haven't approved the Harrah's-Caesars deal.

"We're going to be a player in the industry, but whether we follow the existing strategy or modify it, it's way too early to talk about," Thompson said.

The company has an integration team working with counterparts at Caesars to determine strategies associated with the buyout, including the management of convention facilities.

Harrah's would be on track to inherit more than 470,000 square feet of additional meeting space, including 222,000 square feet at the expanding Caesars Palace.

When a new tower at Caesars is completed later this year, trade show exhibition space would grow from the existing 160,000 square feet at the Strip resort.

Harrah's also would pick up 94,712 square feet at Bally's, and 87,000 square feet at Paris-Las Vegas.

The additional square footage still wouldn't give the company a massive convention center like those operated by the Venetian and its Sands Expo Center or Mandalay Bay and its Mandalay Bay Convention Center. The Sands Expo Center and the Mandalay Bay Convention Center are among the 10 largest in the nation.

Michael Hughes, director of research services for Tradeshow Week, a publication that monitors the meetings industry, said Harrah's global presence should help the company develop a roster of shows that it could host every year in different venues.

"That's what the Gaylord hotel chain is doing," Hughes said. "They have properties in Nashville, Dallas, central Florida and they're building outside of Washington, D.C. They'll be able to rotate events from year to year in various locations and keep that annual business."

Hughes said the company could also host a major meeting event in Las Vegas annually and develop spinoff events in other cities.

"Their various holdings should benefit the meetings industry as well," Hughes said. "Much of the meetings industry is regional, which is why Las Vegas doesn't get every convention. But they'll have much more firepower to serve regional markets with such diverse locations."

Thompson would not say whether Harrah's would attempt to lure business from existing Las Vegas properties or make a bigger play for trade shows, meetings and corporate gatherings that don't currently come to Southern Nevada.

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