LVCVA calendar shows many conventions already booked for 2022

It begins and ends with CES.

The massive consumer electronics show, sponsored by the Washington-based Consumer Electronics Association, will fill every convention hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Sands Expo and Convention Center and the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in the first week of the 2022 calendar.

The calendar was part of a 2022 budget document delivered to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority on Tuesday to project costs and revenue for the fiscal year. The LVCVA board of directors will have a public hearing and is scheduled to adopt the budget May 26.

The convention calendar shows just how busy the Convention Center will be next year. LVCVA executives have said the calendar is robust, but the budget document was the first time the LVCVA has fully illustrated just how busy it will be.

Other companies with convention facilities — Wynn Resorts Ltd., Caesars Entertainment Corp., Las Vegas Sands Corp. and MGM Resorts International among them — have hinted at similarly busy schedules.

“The upcoming calendar for meetings and convention highlights the resiliency that Las Vegas has as a business destination,” said Brenden Bussmann, director of government affairs for Las Vegas-based Global Market Advisors. “While the market continues to rebound, this helps fill the midweek within the resorts across the city and especially the Strip. In addition to adding to gaming revenue, this will also help restaurants and other amenities recover that have been at capacity challenges over the last year.”

Because of the extensive setup and tear-down time required to prepare for CES, a four-day trade show in early January, the South, Central, North and West halls are blocked out Jan. 3-9. CES shows up again on the calendar from Dec. 26-Jan. 11, 2023, for the following year’s show.

“As we continue to recover from The Great Shutdown, it is good to see the return of many shows that unfortunately had to cancel last year because of the pandemic. Q3 and Q4 look solid this year as we head into CES to kick off 2022 in what appears to be a solid schedule moving forward,” Bussmann said.

Possibly the most remarkable feature of the convention calendar is the blocking out of the soon-to-open West Hall, the LVCVA’s $999.2 million facility that features 400,000 square feet of new space.

For the fiscal year, only 17 of 52 weeks — 32 percent — are open. Most of those weeks are centered around times when one wouldn’t expect to have great convention attendance — Easter and spring break, Memorial Day and Thanksgiving.

The first big trade show to occupy the West Hall is the World of Concrete event June 8.

World of Concrete will return to its more familiar time frame, mid-January 2022, and occupy all of the Central, North and West halls.

SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association involving the aftermarket automotive industry, has reclaimed it usual early November time slot. The show is scheduled Nov. 2-5 and building preparations will occur from Oct. 26 to Nov. 7. The event, one of the city’s largest annual trade shows, will fill every Convention Center hall.

Several familiar trade show names dot the calendar: MAGIC (Men’s Apparel Guild in California) Feb. 9-18 and Aug. 4-14; the National Association of Broadcasters, April 16-May 1; the RECon commercial real estate show, June 16-27, 2022; and the National Mining Association MINExpo, Sept. 3-19.

“Meetings and conventions continue to be one of the key drivers to the city’s economy and for the destination,” Bussmann said. “The entire state benefits from the B2B and B2C efforts that will hopefully help us further diversify our economy. It’s a needed catalyst for our recovery and our long term outlook.”

The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Sheldon Adelson, the late chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp.

This story has been updated to reflect currently planned dates for SEMA.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.