p41 ttg_lux_city LasVegas Opening 4/3/10 13:44 Page 41
THE NEW
KINGS OF
VEGAS
A stellar new mix of fine cuisine, incredible
boutiques, amazing hotels and top-notch
shows are placing Las Vegas higher on the
luxury travel radar. Paul Revel reports
A spotlight launching a daily service from Heathrow
shines on Frank Sinatra’s Oscar at his last October, and Virgin has been flying
namesake restaurant in Encore hotel. It there for 10 years.
sits by sepia photos of Ol’ Blue Eyes with “In recent years, non-gaming revenue
Vegas hotel king Steve Wynn in the 1960s. in Las Vegas has exceeded gaming
But it’s a rare remnant of a bygone revenue for the first time in its history,”
era. In a town that lives for the thrill of says John Bischoff, Las Vegas Convention
the new, there’s little left of those heady and Visitors Authority’s vice-president of
days of gangsters and good-time girls. international brand strategy. “We don’t
What the city is seeing is a shift in incorporate gaming into any part of our
focus from the old gaudy casino resorts marketing strategy because we don’t need
towards a more discerning experience. to tell people what they already know.”
Emblematic of this is the new $8.4 The UK’s luxury agents have also
billion CityCenter, its gleaming glass noticed a shift. “Lately more clients are
towers dominating the Strip. With its asking me to book shows, Grand Canyon
green credentials, chic non-gaming trips and VIP entrance to nightclubs,”
Vdara and Mandarin Oriental hotels, and says Select World Travel chairman Kent
$40 million of public art installations, Milne. “BA’s flight is a big plus and will
the development points the way forward. help build business to this area,
The opening of Wynn’s Bellagio in especially when combining a two-centre
1998 is seen by many as a “turning point” to Phoenix, Denver and the likes.”
for the luxury scene in Vegas, setting Jeff Eisenhart, MGM Mirage’s vice-
unprecedented standards for cuisine, president of leisure sales, says 2010 has
design and service. Two years later Wynn definitely seen an international upswing.
sold his Mirage properties to MGM, which “It’s the shift in the non-gaming
formed the giant MGM Mirage group attractions that has been so significant,”
that dominates the Strip. he says. “World travellers coming to Las
Wynn’s next move was to open Wynn Vegas are seeking a rounded luxury
resort in 2005. Sister property Encore experience that features exhilarating
opened in 2008 and further refines his nightlife, varied entertainment, great
concept of a pure luxury resort with less chefs, spas, shopping and more. They will
focus on gaming. Floral and bucolic find the casino if that’s what appeals, but
motifs abound at Encore, and natural they are making decisions based on far
sunlight floods through skylights and more than the gaming itself.”
French windows, even into the relatively However, there’s no denying Vegas is
small casino floor, breaking a 50-year going through hard times. Its massive
taboo that neither daylight nor clocks MICE sector is struggling, room rates are
should distract the gamblers from in the doldrums and major development
pumping cash into the town’s arteries. projects have been stalled.
Maybe this new-look Vegas is what But the destination continues to
appeals more to the UK market. After exude a characteristic brassy optimism.
Canada and Mexico, the UK is the biggest Ol’ Blue Eyes might not recognise the
overseas market for Vegas. British place now, but he’d soon feel
Airways gave the destination a boost by right at home.
41
city las vegas
spring 2010
ttgluxury.com
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