Las Vegas gains approval to host first conference since pandemic

World of Concrete (WOC) will take place in June as research finds atendees are willing to return to Las Vegas.

US.- World of Concrete (WOC) has announced that it has received approval from the Nevada Department of Business and Industry to host the first conference in Las Vegas since the pandemic hit a year ago.

The event will take place at the Las Vegas Convention Centre’s North Hall and the new West Hall. The number of guests has not yet been disclosed, but the WOC conference usually attracts over 60,000 people.

Organiser Informa Markets hired a third-party company to conduct research on the level of comfort of typical past guests to attend this year’s event. The research found that 80 per cent were likely to attend the event in June.

‘Demand for travel’

Senior vice president of communications at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), Lori Nelson-Kraft, also believes tourists are now willing to travel to Las Vegas.

“There’s real pent-up demand for travel and there’s pent-up demand for the Las Vegas experience,” she said. “Now what you are looking at is the opportunity for travel to really reopen, and for people to really start planning their vacations.”

According to Nelson-Kraft, another ten large conventions are planned for the US gambling capital later this year. They include the Licensing Expo, the SupplySide West & Food Ingredients and the International Sanitary Supply Association Expo.

Nevada has loosened Covid-19 restrictions following a fall in the number of coronavirus cases. Casinos, including those in Las Vegas, are now permitted to operate at 50 per cent capacity.

Casino workers in Clark County are also now eligible for Covid-19 vaccines, along with other workers in the hospitality industry.