VEGAS INC Magazine - Latest Las Vegas business news, features and commentaries about gaming, tourism, real estate and more
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BOB POTTS Assistant Director, Business for Economic Research (His former boss, the late Keith Schwer, was at Ground Zero for a conference at the Marriott when the attack occurred.) WHERE WERE YOU? My assistant and I were carpooling that day and I was waiting in my living room for her to arrive. She came to the door ashen white and she asked if I had heard the news. None of us went to work for at least a couple of hours. We all knew Keith was there. He was actually staying at the Marriott World Trade Center, and we were all wondering what was happening there because there wasn't any communication. We were fortunate with Keith. At the time that happened, BlackBerrys were first coming out, and he was traveling with a colleague from Arizona State University who had one of the first editions of the BlackBerry and he was able to get a message out that Keith was all right. HOW DID IT AFFECT US? Obviously, it affected Las Vegas in a big way when all the airlines were shut down. Las Vegas is like an island without its air support. Frankly, we were pretty stranded, and when we saw the tourism numbers it verified what we thought was happening. That was the acute effect; the chronic effect is what we have to deal with today, the security lines at the airport, the TSA (Transportation Security Administration). All in all, it's a dead-weight loss. Everybody loses. MAURICE GALLAGHER Chairman and CEO, Allegiant Air WHERE WERE YOU? I was here in Las Vegas. I have a distinct recollection of coming out of a 24-Hour Fitness at seven in the morning and looking up at a television monitor and doing a double-take. It was jaw-dropping. I didn't know what it was at the time, but I knew it wasn't going to be good for any of us. HOW DID IT AFFECT US? There certainly was a short-term effect on Las Vegas. There was a very sharp cutback on jobs. I think 17,000 people were laid off. But in Las Vegas, we seemed to recover quicker than everybody else and we shook off those short-term issues. As a community, we were back pretty quickly. I think distance has its benefits. On the East Coast, there were all kinds of scares with unidentified packages. Everybody was nervous about this new enemy that had emerged. I think in a backhanded way, Las Vegas actually benefited in the long term because we were recognized as a safe place to go. For international travel, we were viewed as being a safer place. The episode definitely benefited Allegiant. Because demand was down so much, air travel became more reasonably priced. And that's where things got better for us because we're recognized for low fares. So there were short-term problems, but ultimately the airline industry got a shot in the arm when demand came back. | 12 SEPTEMBER 2011 | CAROLYN GOODMAN Mayor, Las Vegas WHERE WERE YOU? I was getting ready for work and had the television news station on, with the sound down. I thought when the first plane hit the north tower that I had inadvertently turned on a movie channel. HOW DID IT AFFECT US? Short term, Las Vegas suffered as people decided not to travel, but we were able to come back as we always do, and thankfully that downturn didn't last long. One of the major long-term effects has been an increased vigilance by all our businesses. Security has always been important in Las Vegas, but now additional steps are taken to ensure the safety of residents and guests. 21 LEILA NAVIDI