Las Vegas Tourism Brass Slated to Receive Pay Raises 

Posted on: July 9, 2021, 03:35h. 

Last updated on: July 13, 2021, 02:01h.

Larry Henry Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Gaming Business, Legislation, Politics, Regulation.

The tourism official tasked with promoting Las Vegas globally is up for a pay raise that would bring his annual salary to almost $400,000. His legal counsel also could be getting a pay hike, raising her salary to over $200,000 a year.

Steve Hill, Steve Davis
The LVCVA’s Steve Hill, left, and Steve Davis of The Boring Co. attend an event regarding the underground people mover in Las Vegas. Elon Musk’s Teslas provide transportation for the system. (Image: NPR)

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board of directors on Tuesday will consider a recommendation to raise CEO Steve Hill’s yearly salary to $397,590, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. If approved, Hill would receive a 4 percent annual raise of $15,292.

LVCVA legal counsel Caroline Bateman’s annual salary would go up 3.5 percent, from $198,765 to $205,722.

A five-member compensation committee recently made the salary recommendations.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the board is expected to award a multimillion-dollar marketing and advertising contract to R&R Partners, a Las Vegas-based firm. R&R has held the LVCVA contract for at least 40 years, according to KSNV-TV. The ad agency developed the famed 2003 “What Happens Here, Stays Here” campaign for the LVCVA.

New York-based Grey Global Advertising will receive a portion of the LVCVA contract.

Conventions Vital to Las Vegas

The committee recommendation for Hill’s pay raise is based in part on his goals for this year, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

Among his goals are bringing conventions back to Las Vegas and using Allegiant Stadium to lure sports and other events to town. Allegiant Stadium, located west of Mandalay Bay, a resort on the west side of the Strip, is home to the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders.

Conventions were nonexistent last year in Las Vegas during the coronavirus pandemic. Along with international travelers, conventioneers are seen as crucial in filling up the thousands of hotels rooms in Las Vegas, especially during the slower middle of the week. 

In June, the first US convention since the March 2020 onset of the pandemic took place in Las Vegas. The World of Concrete trade group held its show at the Convention Center east of the Strip. This show was the first major event held in the $1 billion West Hall at the Convention Center. It also marked the first time convention-goes used the underground Tesla people-mover system at the site. The system was constructed by Elon Musk’s The Boring Co.

For her part, Bateman is credited with handling legal aspects regarding the Vegas Loop, a proposal to extent the Tesla system beyond the Convention Center to casinos and elsewhere. Construction on the loop is not expected to begin until at least 2022.

I-15 Traffic Jams

Another of Hill’s goals for the coming year is to work with the Vegas Chamber to alleviate Interstate 15 traffic jams.

Traffic congestion on I-15 is partly responsible for Southern Californians cutting back on their visits to Las Vegas, the newspaper reported. The average yearly visit is down from 2.4 times to 1.7.

Brightline West, a private high-speed train company, is proposing to build a rail line along I-15 connecting Las Vegas to Apple Valley, Calif., about 90 miles east of Los Angeles. The company has acquired land near the Las Vegas Strip south of McCarran International Airport for a terminal station. Construction on the rail line has been delayed until 2022.