Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Tourism agency braces for drop in revenue over coronavirus

Strip at Night

Wade Vandervort

A view of Las Vegas Blvd on Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017.

The top executive at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said the organization will be able to weather a coronavirus-driven drop in revenue.

“It’s a challenging time, there’s no question,” CEO Steve Hill said during the authority’s board meeting this morning at the Clark County Government Center.

“It hit quickly,” Hill said of the virus. “The impact on business happened very fast. From a budgetary perspective here at the LVCVA, we know there will be a reduction in revenue over at least the next couple of months.”

Four people in Nevada have tested positive for coronavirus as of today. The virus, which originated in China late last year, has infected over 116,000 people worldwide, resulting in more than 4,000 deaths.

Just how much revenue — from a visitor and meetings perspective — will be lost by Las Vegas stakeholders isn’t known yet, Hill said.

“What’s in front of us is uncertain,” Hill said. “We’re taking steps now to mitigate the effect of that revenue drop. It helps that we came into this situation strong and well-prepared. The city has been having a great year. We come into this situation with a pretty significant budget surplus. In addition, the organization has set aside reserve funds that are significant and available to help through this.”

Hill said the ongoing Las Vegas Convention Center expansion project — which has a price tag of nearly $1.5 billion — isn’t expected to be affected. The project — nearly 75% complete — is slated to be finished in time for the 2021 CES show in January.

“There’s significant flexibility built into the financing model for the project,” Hill said. “That’s not at risk as we work through this situation.”

The CONEXPO-CON/AGG construction industry convention, with over 130,000 attendees, started today. Show spokeswoman Sandra Mason said registration is trending ahead of what was recorded in 2017. The show is held every three years.

“Everyone seems to be having a great time,” Mason said.

Unlike some other recent conventions, CONEXPO-CON/AGG organizers decided against canceling or postponing the event because of coronavirus concerns.

“We always appreciate when CONEXPO is here, but we certainly appreciate them this year even more so,” Hill said. “There was never a time when they thought about not having the show, so we appreciate their commitment...I understand the decision some companies have made to not come, but we continue to be a low-risk environment.”

Hill said the LVCVA will continue to monitor the situation and follow the latest guidelines put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Southern Nevada Health District.

Also at today’s meeting, the board voted to authorize $10.5 million for a solar panel energy system for the expanded convention center. The system will be developed by SunPower DevCo LLC.