Tourism workers praised at rally on Strip
Southern Nevada’s peaking tourism industry took time to celebrate National Travel and Tourism Week on Tuesday with a rally at one of the city’s newest visitor magnets.
About 100 industry boosters, many of them adorned in red or carrying red signs, foam fingers and scarves, saluted the industry that supports more than 368,000 jobs in Southern Nevada and generates $14.9 billion in local wages.
Las Vegas welcomed a record 42.3 million visitors in 2015 and is on pace to break that record this year. It was less than a decade ago that the industry was reeling, a victim of the Great Recession that hit the tourism economy hard with people staying home to save money in the event that the dreaded pink slip found its way to a worker’s desk.
But now, the industry has bounced back.
Southern Nevada has an estimated $9 billion in resort-related projects in the construction pipeline.
But Tuesday’s rally at Toshiba Plaza, literally in the shadow of the new T-Mobile Arena, was more about celebrating industry workers than the city’s impressive structures.
Five speakers paid tribute to industry employees, explaining how their deft touch with guests is what brings people back again and again to Southern Nevada.
Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., said Southern Nevada workers are part of a larger fraternity of 15 million employees nationwide that are part of a $2 trillion industry.
Clark County Commissioner Lawrence Weekly, who serves as chairman of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board of directors, said as a native Southern Nevadan, he’s proud of gleaming hotel towers and the glittering resort attractions.
“There’s so much beautiful growth that we’re seeing in our community,” Weekly said. “But really, my hat’s off to the front-desk clerks, the maintenance people, the people behind the scenes. You are the ones who keep our guests coming back.”
Added Chuck Bowling, president and chief operating officer of Mandalay Bay and the vice chairman of the LVCVA board, “Our single greatest priority as a company is our employee base, ensuring they have the tools and opportunities they need to be successful.
“We long ago recognized that the buildings we operate are simply that, buildings,” he said. “It is the employees who bring these buildings to life, who engage our customers in meaningful ways every day and create memories for a lifetime.”
Former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, now chairman of the LVCVA’s Host Committee, told a story of how one of the 60 recipients of the city’s 2016 “Hospitality Heroes” recognition program wept when told she was being honored for her work.
While the industry recognized its own, Terry Jicinsky, senior vice president of operations for the LVCVA, also noted how revenue generated by room taxes benefit Southern Nevadans’ quality of life. Jicinsky said since the inception of the tax, $1 billion has been generated to build local schools and $1.3 billion has been dedicated to local road projects.
And, while tourism means hosting trade shows and conventions — Las Vegas has been the top destination for shows in the past 22 years — the city will achieve another important milestone when the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, hosts the final presidential debate on Oct. 19.
Thousands of journalists are expected to descend on Las Vegas for the debate, which is planned at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Find him on Twitter: @RickVelotta
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