In a press conference, Governor Sisolak outlined that gatherings of up to 250 or 50% capacity (whichever is less) are now allowed.
If a venue has the capacity to keep cohorts of 250 attendees, the limit goes up to 10% of the venue’s total capacity provided a safety plan has been submitted and approved by the state. Therefore, if a venue can normally accommodate 10,000 people, they can apply for special permission to host 1,000 (a total of four groups of 250).
This 1,000-person limit applies to conventions provided the following conditions are met:
- The venue allows for separating attendees into groups of 250 or 50% capacity (whichever is less)
- Venue staff are limited to one area and one group, and cannot cross over
- Each individual area must be separated by floor-to-ceiling walls, and must either have separate entrances or stagger entrance to avoid crowding or cross-exposure between groups
- Attendees must be pre-registered
- Shared use of restrooms and concessions, merchants, etc. must be strictly minimized
- A risk mitigation plan has been submitted to the local health authority and approved by the appropriate state authority
Certain large venues such as the T-mobile Arena can apply for a 10% capacity allowance.
The news comes as the Silver State has plateaued in Covid-19 cases from its peak in July.
While this is definitely a sign of restart for the devastated sector of meetings and conventions in Las Vegas, questions still remains on the confidence of planners to book business in a ‘destination’ city.
Las Vegas in most cases requires travel. Regional business can kickstart the comeback, but national and international business travel still remain unlikely.