New Orleans Conventions Consider Las Vegas Representatives of several conventions and trade shows scheduled to occur in New Orleans within the next 30 to 60 days have contacted local travel officials to ask about moving their events to Las Vegas.
Because the fall is already a busy local convention period, it's unlikely any events soon will shift here from the Big Easy. Terry Jicinsky, senior vice president of marketing for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said Wednesday that the authority's Washington bureau has in the past two days fielded calls from "less than a dozen" show managers who asked about local hotel and convention center space. The authority is working to help those groups wherever possible, but Jicinsky added there probably is not enough space available for Las Vegas to take on more events on short notice. "It's slim pickings from a logistics standpoint," Jicinsky said. "My guess is most of the (New Orleans) events will be postponed or canceled." Last year, New Orleans was the nation's fifth-busiest trade show destination, as ranked by Tradeshow Week magazine. It hosted 12 of the 200 largest U.S. trade shows in 2004, trailing only Las Vegas (38 shows), Chicago (18), Orlando, Fla. (18) and New York (14). The Associated Press on Wednesday said officials in Atlanta also have fielded calls from trade shows affected by Hurricane Katrina's damage to New Orleans. The New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau will not have power at its office for at least three to four weeks, its Web site said Wednesday. The bureau hopes to open an alternate office in Baton Rouge, La., sometime next week. "Our ability to work with and contact our member hotels and other member companies is severely impaired," the bureau's Web site said. "Please be patient with our wonderful suppliers and properties who are under incalculable stress at this time. "There are no means currently of bringing groups together to discuss strategic issues. Public safety issues are the dominant concern at this time."
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