Future looks bright for region

Local business leaders and national experts took out their crystal balls to forecast a bright future for Southern Nevada at Preview Las Vegas 2001 held at the Thomas & Mack Center Jan. 24.

The business preview sponsored by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and the Nevada Development Authority featured more than a dozen speakers and a hall full of booths representing local businesses. Chamber officials say more than 1,700 attended the event and trade show.

Most preview speakers predicted Southern Nevada will experience continued growth despite the recent slowdown in the national economy.

Keith Schwer, director of University of Nevada, Las Vegas' Center for Business and Economic Research said local growth will continue, though at a slower pace than experienced in the 1990s.

Schwer's office predicts that total hotel room growth will be 1.3 percent in 2001, compared with the 5.7 percent average per year in the 1990s. Visitor volume is expected to grow 1.5 percent this year, compared with the 1990's average of 5.6 percent per year.

Gaming revenues are anticipated to increase 3 percent this year, compared to the 5.5 percent per year in the 1990s. Schwer's office also predicts that population and employment rates will continue to climb with employment growth of 4.9 percent and a population increase of 5.3 percent for this year.

While growth is expected to continue in Nevada, the picture for the local airline business is less brilliant. Fuel prices are up, but airfares have remained low to keep demand up in a traditionally tourist-oriented market.

Mark Suman, co-founder and vice president of Strategic Planning for National Airlines said in spite of the filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, business has continued for the locally-based airline. Out of thousands of flights in the past seven weeks, Suman said only 60, or about 2 percent, have been canceled and half of those cancellations were weather-related.

Suman predicted that air travel will continue to be vital to the health of the local economy, with half of all visitors to Las Vegas arriving by plane. He added that visitors who fly here stay longer and spend more, resulting in air travelers representing 60 percent of all visitor spending.

Harrah's Chief Executive Officer Gary Loveman spent his time at the podium working to dispel a few of the myths surrounding gaming. Loveman said contrary to what people see on television and in movies, most gaming patrons are not women in evening gowns or men in tuxedos; they are regular people who love the exuberant feeling of taking a safe risk.

Loveman said he is stunned at the nation-wide government restrictions placed on gaming. He said there is no evidence that crime rates are higher when gaming is present and that the vast majority of gamblers are not betting away their life savings or losing control of their spending.

Turning to local issues, UNLV President Carol Harter assured the audience the school will continue to train teachers, nurses and other in-demand professionals to meet local needs for the year 2001 and beyond. Harter said the nursing and teaching departments have dropped their waiting lists in an effort to increase the number of qualified applicants.

Harter anticipates UNLV will continue to partner with business and government to prepare professionals for the work place.

"Together we are ensuring that Las Vegas evolves into the city we have all envisioned," she concluded.

Richard Lee, director of public relations for First American Title Company, envisions a future where Steve Wynn again influences the local landscape. Lee is convinced whatever Wynn decides to do with the Desert Inn property will determine the shape of future development.

Lee led a group of development speakers announcing new business and residential developments spanning from Green Valley to Summerlin.

Del Web Senior Vice President Frank Pankratz said local developers and businesses need to prepare for the retirement of the baby boomers, or as he has redefined them, the zoomers.

"Baby boomers enter mid-youth, not mid-life," Pankratz said, "They always think old is another 20 years away."

For Las Vegas, this means the growth of a larger more affluent consumer group. Pankratz said businesses people who continue to market to the traditional mature senior market will miss the boat.

Preview audiences also received presentations from nationally recognized speakers William Kristol, a Washington insider and political analyst and technology expert Jack Shaw. In addition, Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority Marketing Vice President Rossi Ralenkotter shared a new series of nationally broadcast commercials highlighting the freedom Las Vegas offers.

Following the conference, attendees were invited to sample foods from local restaurants -- Buca Di Beppo, Gordon Biersch Brewing Company, Lawry's The Prime Rib, Monsoon Pan-Asian Bistro, Smith & Wollensky and Tenaya Creek Restaurant & Brewery. Conference attendees lined up to sample prime rib, pastas and salads as part of this first time offering.