Association Meeting Planners' Perceived Performance of Las Vegas

Abstract

ABSTRACT The meeting planner of a particular association is often instrumental in influencing what city will best accommodate the needs of the organization. This study examined how Las Vegas as a convention city meets preferences of association meeting planners by applying Importance-Performance analysis (IPA). Qualitative (open-ended) evaluations were also sought to complement the analysis. The findings showed that Las Vegas effectively met the preferences of association meeting planners in highly important areas such as capacity and quality of facilities, accessibility, and room rate affordability. However, Las Vegas was perceived a relatively low performer in some other highly important areas, a combination of logistics and city image, such as union labor requirements, ease of local transportation, number of hotels within walking distance to the convention center, city reputation, safety and security of destination, and affordable exhibit space. Most of the unfavorable qualitative evaluations were related to the environment. The findings provided some implications for Las Vegas to effectively target association meeting planners and develop product and promotion strategies.