Vegas doubles down

In an effort to promote Las Vegas as a city where serious business is done, the convention bureau is launching a $1 million ad campaign targeted towards CEOs. The ad will run in business publications and aims to correct misconceptions about Las Vegas. The campaign will focus on why it is a good decision to hold meetings and conventions in the city.  A recent wave of “Sin City” criticism has led companies, including Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo, to cancel planned Vegas events.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) said in March that 340 groups cancelled their Las Vegas meetings or conventions in the past three months, amounting to a loss of nearly 112,000 visitors, 237,000 room reservations and $131.6 million in spending in the 90-day span.

Members of the LVCVA met with government leaders in Washington after unanimously voting to suspend an $890 million renovation of the Las Vegas Convention Center until the middle of 2010. This was the same day the LVCVA reported an 11.9 percent drop in visitors in January 2009 from the same month last year. Daily room rates also fell 19.9 percent from 2008, the steepest decline since September 11.