Yasmina Chavez
Steve Hill, Chairman / President of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), tours Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, D-NV, through the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center on Monday, May 3, 2021.
Monday, May 3, 2021 | 2:51 pm
The Las Vegas Convention Center expansion will play a huge role in revitalizing the Las Vegas exhibition industry, said Nevada’s senior US Senator.
After a tour of today’s $ 989 million extension to West Hall, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Described the facility as a “game changer.”
“The architecture and high-tech capability of the West Hall extension add a new level,” said Cortez Masto. “It’s amazing. This is a prime place for companies to showcase their trade shows and get their employees and customers to show off their products. “
The Tobacco Plus Expo, which will take place from May 12th to 14th, is the first trade fair to take place in the Convention Center since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.
Ellie Hansen, director of Tobacco Plus Expo, said organizers are anticipating around 4,500 attendees.
The larger World of Concrete Show is scheduled for next month and will be the first major convention in the West Hall.
During their visit, Cortez Masto also toured the Convention Center’s underground tunnel transportation system that carries passengers from one end of the property to the other.
The $ 52.5 million loop system that uses Tesla electric vehicles is the founding of Elon Musk’s own Boring Company. The system will be available to congress attendees free of charge.
Cortez Masto used today’s visit to promote the recently introduced law on adding vital economic longevity to transportation resources, which she hopes will eventually become law.
The legislation would encourage tourism in Nevada by urging the US Department of Transportation to improve highways that bring visitors to Las Vegas. It would allocate $ 1.2 billion to projects to reduce traffic congestion and make long-haul travel more efficient.
As the Las Vegas visit recovers, traffic jams on Interstate 15 between Las Vegas and Los Angeles have returned.
In 2018, Southern Californians made up about 20% of all visitors to Las Vegas, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
“Tourism and travel are so important to Nevada, and that’s one of the main areas I focus on as a senator,” said Cortez Masto, whose father, the late Manny Cortez, ran the tourism agency from 1991-2004.
“We have to rethink how we design the infrastructure. Our transportation sector has traditionally not focused on tourism and travel. If you grew up here in Las Vegas, you see I-15 on the weekends and the people coming in and out. If we pass this law, more people can come to our churches. “
