LAS VEGAS— This year’s Las Vegas International Hotel and Restaurant Show (LVIH&RS) recently held here offered a pleasant surprise for vendors as there was a markedly strong showing of West Coast hoteliers in attendance. Next year’s show is expected to be even larger, as the AH&LA is currently in discussions with state association executives, hatching plans to eliminate the AH&LA annual April meeting in order to focus solely on the New York IH/M&RS in November and the springtime Vegas event. Additionally, during the conference, the AH&LA narrowed down its search for Bill Fisher’s replacement to five candidates, from an original roster of 92 choices. In an interview following the confab, John Russell told HOTEL BUSINESS® that, as of presstime, the association will have named its candidate for the president/CEO post by July 15. Fisher officially steps down from his leadership position at the association Aug. 1. Russell noted, however, that “we won’t let time dictate our decision,” indicating that the committee will choose carefully and will not rush in making its final choice. Meanwhile, during the “CEOs Tell It Like It Is” panel, hotel company execs focused mainly on the Las Vegas market, and noted that despite a small fall-off in visitor traffic and convention business, it’s still faring quite well through the economic downturn. Panelists Thomas Gallagher, Park Place Entertainment, and William Hornbuckle, MGM Mirage, expressed an attitude of cautious optimism and shared their satisfaction with their respective companies’ results so far this year. However, they tempered that satisfaction with a degree of wariness about the balance of 2001. “Overall, we’ve had a good first half of the year. Going into the second half, we need to keep an eye on the economy as Las Vegas is seeing a drop-off in traffic from California. It’s hard to predict too far out, but so far 2001 seems like a good year,” said Gallagher. “Volume in terms of head count and visitor volume has been flat in 2001, but we’ve succeeded in targeting niche markets and different segments. Premium customers are still coming at the same rate, and, in fact, comprise a great portion of our revenue stream,” Hornbuckle said. While Hornbuckle and Gallagher were hesitant to paint too rosy a picture, Dieter Huckestein, Hilton Hotels Corp., and Glenn Schaeffer, Mandalay Resort Group, gave glowing reviews of both Hilton and Mandalay’s operations and revenues this year. “Hilton had a really good first quarter. We saw a fall-off in convention bookings starting in March. However, the Doubletree brand has seen market share increase significantly in 2001, while the Embassy brand has experienced a marked increase in RevPAR. In several markets, we’re still seeing occupancies in the 80% to 85% range,” said Huckestein. “The first quarter marked an all-time record for Mandalay and the convention business for us in the Las Vegas market was especially strong during this time period,” said Schaeffer. “Summer bookings are ahead of where they were a year ago,” he continued. Despite varied views about business for the balance of 2001, panelists agreed that marketing is a necessity, and no matter how deep the downturn, dollars should never be slashed from sales and marketing budgets. Instead, panelists suggested that more attention should be paid to pinpointing and closely targeting specific audiences. “In a downturn, we simply need to be more cognizant to where our ads are placed and how they are placed.,” Hornbuckle said. Huckestein agreed: “Hilton will not be pulling back in its advertising as a result of the economy. However, we will focus less on image advertising to pursue more targeted advertising.” Ways to keep Las Vegas a fresh, appealing destination in the eyes of travelers was also discussed, as outgoing AH&LA President/CEO Bill Fisher pointed out that “nothing new is set to come on-line here anytime soon.” Accordingly, panelists agreed that a hotel’s success in the Las
