Las Vegas Convention Center Renovation Strengthens City’s Trade Show Position

On Jan. 1, Las Vegas completed its renovation and expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, cementing its position as one of the top convention cities in the world. With an expanded Central Hall and a new West Hall, the facility has more capacity than ever before to host large events, such as CES, which draws approximately 130k attendees annually in Las Vegas.

The convention industry remains a stabilizing factor for Las Vegas's economy. For November, total attendance at conventions reached 547,000, a decrease of only 0.2% compared to November of the previous year. Even with this very small decrease, conventions still play an important role in bringing tourist traffic to Las Vegas, helping maintain hotel occupancy rates and ancillary spending during the middle of the week.

Convention travelers accounted for roughly 15% of all Las Vegas visitors in 2025, totaling about 6 million people. Steve Hill, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, has emphasized the importance of booking meetings and trade shows during the week to utilize the city's approximately 150,000 hotel rooms fully. “They tend to stay longer than a leisure visitor,” Hill said.

Industry leaders underscored the importance of conventions to the city's long-term stability. Brian Gordon noted, “The convention business has been the one thing that has really provided stability.” The renovated complex is expected to strengthen that role by enabling Las Vegas to host more simultaneous and higher-capacity events.

The convention center improvements are funded through a legislative package approved in 2016. The same framework financed Allegiant Stadium, tying the project to a broader strategy of large-scale public investment in Southern Nevada.

Major event organizers continue to voice confidence in Las Vegas. CES President and CEO Gary Shapiro has repeatedly cited the city's hospitality infrastructure and business-friendly environment as unmatched globally. Reinforcing that commitment, Kinsey Fabrizio, President of the Consumer Technology Association, affirmed, “Absolutely. CES will be in Las Vegas. This is a wonderful city for our event. We love being here.”