LVCVA Address Luxury Travel Expo

At the General Session of the Luxury Travel Expo Wednesday morning, Art Jimenez, director of leisure sales for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) welcomed the thousands of travel agents in attendance and joked that the new state bird is the crane, tipping his hat to the massive amount of construction going on in Las Vegas right now.

He also pointed out that the LVCVA doesn't want to appear as if it's having a fire sale during this downturn. Instead, ads now promote that Vegas is a place to have fun. "We have a 'Crazy Vegas' concept to show people the fun they are missing," Jimenez said. "Watch for that new message in the marketplace." 

Jimenez later brought five travel agents to the stage who were invited by a series of wholesalers (Future Vacations, Travel Impressions, Funjet, United Airlines Vacations, American Express and Southwest Airlines Vacations) who partnered with the LVCVA over the past few months in an incentive program to sell the city. Each agent was given a briefcase containing an American Express gift certificate and other items. The prizes totaled $20,000, with the luckiest agent walked away with $10,000.