virtual meetings with our resort partners to share best practices and talk through changing guidelines . And we ’ ve spent a lot of time ensuring organisers , exhibitors and attendees know we ’ re working closely with our operations teams in the destination to bring large meetings and events back successfully . |
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What is the current situation vis-à-vis running large events again in Vegas ? As of 1 June , Las Vegas returned to pre-pandemic guidelines and is 100 % open with no restrictions on group sizes or capacities . Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak did bring back our indoor mask mandate recently , and as of 16 August , introduced an option for all large indoor events with 4,000 or more attendees to show proof of vaccination as an exception to the indoor mask requirement . Individual event organisers are able to choose between requiring masks indoors for all attendees or ensuring that all attendees are vaccinated , in which case they can remove their masks . Event operators can admit attendees who are only partially vaccinated , however attendees who are only partially vaccinated will continue to wear a mask during the event . This isn ’ t a requirement to show proof of vaccination to attend a large event , but an optional exception that vendors can choose .
How has the pipeline held up for conferences and how are venues coping with the stresses on the calendar going forward ? We ’ re extremely pleased to be looking at a robust schedule for the rest of this year and into next year at the Las Vegas Convention Center , and anecdotally we ’ re hearing similar sentiments from our resort partners .
Tell us about the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop designed by the Boring Company . The Las Vegas Convention Center Loop is an exciting new development for us .
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It ’ s an underground transportation system by Elon Musk ’ s The Boring Company designed to shuttle convention attendees throughout the 200-acre campus in all-electric Tesla vehicles . It can take upward of 25 minutes to walk across our campus end-to-end , but the Convention Center Loop cuts that time to less than two minutes . The next steps for the Loop system are tunnels connecting our campus to Resorts World Las Vegas and other properties , and the goal is for the system to eventually span the entire resort corridor , from Downtown Las Vegas in the north to all the way south to Allegiant Stadium and McCarran International Airport . In terms of saving time and building efficiency , it ’ s a game-changer for us .
What is the biggest challenge now for your team ? Our challenge has been that some people are more comfortable with gatherings than others , depending on factors like vaccination levels and current restrictions where they live . There ’ s also uncertainly when planning based on different standards in cities and states across the
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country . We ’ re hopeful that some of these issues will resolve themselves as the vaccination rate continues to increase . In the meantime , understanding which health and safety measures individual meeting planners and groups would like to see in place for their gatherings is key , and of course our venues can accommodate requests for extra health checks and other precautions , just as we have always accommodated special requests , from extra K-9 teams to special considerations for medical meetings .
Tell us about the IMEX effect and how you ’ re building on that relationship and the importance of that industry show to Las Vegas . Las Vegas is the perfect host for the country ’ s largest meetings industry trade show , and it ’ s very important to us . It will take time for the meetings industry to fully recover , but I can ’ t think of a better step forward than hosting IMEX America 2021 and having the opportunity to show the organisers , exhibitors and attendees not only how Las Vegas has evolved , but that we ’ re ready to get back to business .
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When you ’ re not immersed in the events world , how do you relax in your own downtime ? I spend almost all of my free time with my family , whether it ’ s going downtown for dinner at our favourite pizza restaurant , spending time in the pool , or hiking Mt . Charleston . I sometimes sneak in some reading as well , I ’ m a huge fan of Daniel Silva . |