Incentive - February 2008 - (Page 75)

TRAVEL LAS VEGAS CityCenter, by MGM MIRAGE Start Spreading the News Las Vegas embarks on a $40 billion “Manhattanization” makeover By Alex Palmer L as Vegas has long been hailed as the goliath of getaways. Not only is everything here bigger, shinier and more likely to come with a souvenir cup than almost any other destination, this is a place that takes its “getaway” status very seriously. Las Vegas is a “Disneyland for adults,” or, as the Las Vegas Conventions and Visitors Authority’s slogan slyly puts it, “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” Setting aside that phrase’s less proper suggestions, it remains that Las Vegas’ vast offerings of entertainment and excitement are to be considered distinct from, or actually antithetical to, everyday life. People come here for something spectacularly unlike the real world. The branding of this city as the place for the ultimate vacation has turned it into an ideal choice for incentive planners. Named one of the three most popular incentive travel destinations in the Incentive Research Foundation’s 2005 “Survey of Incentive Travel Program Business Strategies,” Las Vegas’ city-wide “wow factor” suits it to offering incentive winners a dazzling experience. “Las Vegas is an over-the-top destination, and that’s what incentives are about,” says Angela Allen, project account manager for Maritz Travel. “It’s about what you can’t experience on your own vacation.” Allen is currently planning a 200-person incentive trip for a travel client in May. But as it continues to draw ever larger numbers of visitors, this epitome of overthe-top is having to balance the realities of $30-million-an-acre land costs and the envi- ronmental and logistical pressures of an annual visitor volume nearing 40 billion. As can only be expected from a destination synonymous with reinvention, Las Vegas is turning these potential lemons into lemonade—or expertly poured Blue Dolphin cocktails—as its condo-heavy construction, entertainment offerings and changing cityscape are transforming the city into a hip, urban metropolis, resembling New York more than Disneyland. Since the 1989 opening of the Mirage, which ushered in the era of Vegas megaresorts catering to a wider range of visitors and interests, the city has experienced cycles of major builds every few years as newer, distinctive towers, casinos and sights replaced those that had become not quite spectacular enough. Las Vegas is now in the incentivemag.com | February 2008 | Incentive | 75 http://www.incentivemag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Incentive - February 2008

Incentive Magazine - February 2008 Editor’s Note: Archie and the Boys In The News Cover Story: On The Ball Incentives Incentive Primer: How to Use Sporting Events Incentive Interview: Jim Avery on Doing the Right Thing Employee Empowerment Motivates and Pays Dividends Hospitals, Nurses Win With Flexible Scheduling Legal Ease: Safety Programs and Unions Case Study: The Weitz Company Retains Its Boomers Potentials: Here and Now Star Power in the Kitchen Awards: Gift Card Trends for the New Year Travel News The Manhattanization of Las Vegas Classics Renewed: Monaco and France Advertiser Index Off The Cuff: Tumi’s Mike Landry

Incentive - February 2008

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