Las Vegas betting on sports, culinary as 2019’s big tourism draws

While the visiting Vegas Golden Knights fell 3-1 to the hosting Toronto Maple Leafs last night, the team’s strong NHL debut in 2017 has been a huge win for the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, welcoming increasing numbers of Canadian hockey fans over the past year.

Hosting travel trade members at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena for last night’s match-up, the LVCVA reflected on the rise of sports tourism to the city, one of the main draws expected to bring more Canadians in 2019 and beyond.

“Since Golden Knights tickets went on sale, we’ve seen a lot of hike from leisure gateways, such as Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver,” said David Han, the LVCVA’s Canadian account manager. “Airlines are adding more flights for the Canadian teams playing Vegas, especially when those teams make the playoffs; for Winnipeg last year, they added two more flights just for those games.”

Betting big on sports

The Golden Knights are just one facet of Las Vegas’ increased focus on sports tourism.

Earlier this year, the city welcomed the WNBA Las Vegas Aces basketball team along with the United Soccer League’s Las Vegas Lights FC, while in 2020, Las Vegas will also welcome the NFL's relocated Oakland Raiders as its next major league sports franchise, to be housed in a new stadium currently under construction.

Las Vegas is also home to two NASCAR races in September and March (featuring the only track with two triple-header weekends on the NASCAR schedule) and has also made inroads into the world of competitive video gaming, with facilities including LEVEL UP inside the MGM Grand; and Esports Arena Las Vegas, a 30,000-square-foot, multilevel arena designed to host every form of competitive gaming, from daily play to esports tournaments.

Looking ahead

With Las Vegas welcoming 1.48 million Canadian visitors in 2017 – up 2.7 per cent for 2016 – Han said that numbers are expected to surpass the 1.5 million mark in 2018, thanks in part to a number of new flights which have recently come online. These include flights from Swoop (Hamilton, Edmonton and Abbotsford); Flair (Edmonton and Winnipeg); and Air Canada, which launched service from Edmonton on Oct. 28.

In addition to its increasing line-up of sports offerings, Han added that Vegas continues to expand its culinary offerings with new restaurants, along with several new hotels opening by 2020.

The new hotels include:

• The Drew Las Vegas will debut the EDITION brand in Las Vegas and mark the Strip’s first JW Marriott. Anticipated to open in late 2020, the resort will feature nearly 4,000 rooms and suites as well as over 500,000 square feet of convention and meeting space.
• Resorts World Las Vegas will offer guests a unique gaming and resort experience, geared toward the growing Asian travel market. The multi-billion-dollar property is expected to open in 2020.
• Wynn Paradise Park Wynn Resorts plan to build a $1.5 billion project which includes a 1,500-room expansion of the current property and a 38-acre lagoon to be lined with white sand beaches. The expansion will include a new 280,000 square foot meeting space which will have an 83,000 pillar-less ballroom and an outdoor events pavilion. Completion is slated for 2020.