Las Vegas will totally benefit from action taken by the Nevada State legislators last week when a bill was approved for the expansion and renovation of Las Vegas Convention Center and the development of domed football stadium.
“Tourism is Nevada’s No. 1 economic driver, employing nearly half of the people who call Southern Nevada home and this decision represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Southern Nevada,” said Rossi Ralenkotter, president and CEO of Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. “Our destination thrives on evolution and reinvention and we commend the bold decision by the Nevada legislature and Gov. Sandoval to approve these two monumental projects that position our destination to remain a leading tourism destination for decades to come.”
Nevada lawmakers held a special session to approve a $1.4 billion Las Vegas Convention Center District project, which will add 600,000 sq. ft. of new meeting space. The bill also stipulates $1.9 billion for the development of a 65,000-seat stadium that could host University of Nevada, Las Vegas football games and a possible NFL team down the road.
To pay for the Las Vegas Convention Center District makeover, there will be a 0.5 percentage point increase in Clark County’s hotel room tax. The stadium will receive funding from an .88 percentage point room tax increase.
These two major projects are expected to create more than 14,000 jobs and have an annual incremental economic impact of $1.43 billion, plus an additional 1 million visitors a year.
The planned expansion of the convention center was applauded by CES, which holds its annual citywide in Las Vegas each January.
The Southern Nevada economy, of which Las Vegas is central, annually generates nearly $52 billion in total economic impact, supporting 368,900 jobs and $14.9 billion in local wages and salaries. These jobs represent 41-percent of Southern Nevada’s total workforce.
Las Vegas Convention Center hosts 22 percent of all convention attendees traveling to Southern Nevada. It directly supports 9,400 local jobs and $379 million in local wages and salaries. In 2015, the convention center hosted 49 events with a combined attendance of 1.3 million people. These visitors generated $2.1 billion in total economic output in 2015.
