Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/875687
Las Vegas has been named the World's Leading Meetings & Conference Destination for 2016, marking the fourth consecutive year it has been recognized for this honor by the World Travel Awards. "It is a tremendous honor to once again win this distinguished award," said Cathy Tull, senior vice president of marketing for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). "This recognition is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the more than 368,000 people whose jobs are supported by the tourism industry in Southern Nevada." The World Travel Awards supports and promotes the global travel and tourism industry by identifying and rewarding excellence and inspiring its practitioners to continually raise the standards of their product and service offerings. The voting process for the awards is online, accompanied by a yearlong communications campaign encouraging global participation. Voting for the final awards is determined by qualified executives working within travel and tourism, and the consumer travel buyer. Recognition like the World Travel Awards further cement Las Vegas as the ideal destination for meetings and conventions, hosting some of the biggest trade shows in the industry, including CES, which welcomed 165,000 attendees in January 2017 as the show celebrated its 50th anniversary. Looking ahead, the LVCVA is working to fur- ther solidify its position as the No. 1 convention center in the U.S. consistently attracting higher trade show attendance, which was up 8.7 per- cent in 2016, and investing in the Las Vegas Convention Center District (LVCCD). The LVCCD project will expand the convention cen- ter by 1.4 million sq. ft., including 600,000 sq. ft. of additional exhibit space. The expansion and renovation will allow shows to grow in both square footage and attendance. In 2015, the Las Vegas Convention Center hosted 49 con- ventions, servicing a total of 1.3 million convention attendees. In addition to the World Travel Awards, Las Vegas was also named North America's Leading Destination, Business Travel Destination, and North America's Leading Tourist Attraction: Las Vegas Strip. To learn more about the World Travel Awards, visit www.worldtrav- elawards.com. To learn more about the LVCVA, visit www.lvcva.com I N T H E N E W S LAS VEGAS NAMED WORLD'S LEADING MEETINGS & CONFERENCE DESTINATION AT WORLD TRAVEL AWARDS The Annual Awards Ackowledge Excellence Across All Sectors of the Global Travel and Tourism Industry AIRESPA AND KANA GROUP ALLOW GUESTS TO PERSONALIZE THEIR ROOMS Innovaci Inc. is proud to announce its newest partnership with the award-winning Kana Hotel Group to deploy its AireSpa® systems into their hotel rooms. "We are very excited to partner with hotel owners like the Kana Hotel Group who are focused on providing upscale amenities for their guests," said Louis Holder, CEO, Innovaci Inc. "Kana is one of the fastest-growing hotel groups in the country and has been successful due to their focus on the guest experience." B M & T ••• March/April 2017 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 6