Billed as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and famous for its mega casino–hotels and gaming activities, Las Vegas has a plan to become the business capital of North America. The city is investing $860 million on a convention center expansion project due for completion in 2021.
Las Vegas’ Convention Center today has more than 11 million square feet of meeting and exhibit space citywide. Already one of the 
largest in the world, the convention space will grow even bigger with more space for fairs, expos, meetings and events. Today, Las Vegas annually ranks as one of the world’s most visited tourist destinations, but the planned expansion represents the city’s focus on becoming a large business destination as well. The expansion project will attract ever-increasing numbers of leisure and business visitors to the area.
The expectation is that more populations will keep Vegas top of mind for their conventions and meetings of all sizes. This new diversification of convention and entertainment options comes at the heels of a gambling drop off. The city has already begun to reinvent itself in new ways.
This expansion endeavor is expected to grow the economy through tourism in the years to come. This means a pending boom for the city’s hospitality industry. The expansion brings with it the construction of new hotels and attractions. Today, the city claims more AAA Five Diamond hotels than any other city in the world, with 150,000 hotel rooms. As part of the expansion project, there are six hotels planned for construction on the strip with several existing properties near and around the valley planning guest room upgrades and hospitality technology investments.
With this new growth in entertainment and meeting space, the additional hotel rooms will help support the city’s mission of becoming a top business center and provide a higher quality visitor experience.