2008 Woodie Awards
High Rollers
Hospitality & Travel Industry Club Lands in Las Vegas
By Dave Kang (OG), Contributing Writer
Issue date: 10/6/08 Section: News
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The Hospitality & Travel Industry Club kicked off the year with its annual Las Vegas Trek, co-organized by trek planner Josh Belkin (OI) and club co-president Dave Kang (OG). Over the course of two days, the treksters rubbed shoulders with executives at Las Vegas Sands Corporation, examined the oddities cluttering Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's office, conversed with executives at The Wynn, talked with the manager overseeing construction at MGM-Mirage's mammoth CityCenter development, took a peek in the casino surveillance room at the Bellagio, and toured the ground operations of industry leader Southwest Airlines' mega-hub at McCarran Airport.
It was by no means just Q&A, business cards, and leather portfolios. Among VIP treats the trek gained access to were a birds-eye view from high atop the MGM-Mirage CityCenter construction site; the liquor pump room servicing all 53 bars at Bellagio with 90 miles of tubing; an up-close view into the cargo hold of a Southwest Airlines 737 loaded for departure; and two private, off-schedule fountain shows at Bellagio's famous 8-acre lake. When the sun went down, the treksters enjoyed dinner and line-bypass VIP access to TAO nightclub at The Venetian and also watched the second-ever performance of Cirque du Soleil's newest show, "Criss Angel: Believe" at The Luxor.
Cognizant of the reduced congestion on Las Vegas Boulevard, frugal $10-15 minimum bets at luxury resort casinos, and big bargains on hotel rooms, treksters familiar with the town jumped at the opportunity to press executives about the conditions facing Las Vegas's economy, once labeled "recession-proof."
"If you had asked about our plans for growth last year, we would have told you we were the smartest people in the world," said a Las Vegas Sands senior executive as the trek made its first stop at the offices in The Venetian on Friday morning. "We're not exactly talking about how smart we are these days."
Mayor Oscar Goodman voiced similar concerns as he enters the final years of his last term as one of the most popular and highly-approved mayors in the nation. "My advisors were telling me this financial crisis would be weathered in 6 months. Then they were telling me one year," said Goodman as he sat in an elaborate 6-foot-high wooden throne behind a crescent-shaped mahogany desk in an office that included, among other things, neon signs and an autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi. "Now, you're telling me at least two years," he said, in response to one student's summary of the "Turmoil on the Street: Fathoming the Financial Crisis" panel that took place at HBS a few days before the trek launched.
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