LVCC Offers Real Flight-time Amenity
Lisa Plummer -- Tradeshow Week, 11/25/2008 4:16:00 PM
The Las Vegas Convention Center, in partnership with McCarran Intl. Airport, has added yet another travel convenience for its conventioneers. With the addition of the real-time Flight Information Display System, LVCC guests now can monitor departure schedules and plan trips to the airport using up-to-the-minute flight information fed directly from McCarran.
Early last month, the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority debuted six, 40-inch LCD screens near the information desk in the Main Concourse of the convention center. The screens feature departing flights in four- to five-hour increments during peak times and longer during slower periods.
According to Hugh Sinnock, LVCVA director of customer experience, the addition of FIDS made sense, as the facility already offers an Airport SpeedCheck Advance boarding pass kiosk and Bags To Go baggage check amenities to its guests.
“The flight information displays are a natural addition to the facility,” Sinnock said. “Delegates now have the ability to check in and print their boarding pass, check their luggage and monitor the status of their flight, all at the convention center. We have heard from a few show organizers who heard the monitors are in place and are excited to have the feature available to their attendees.”
An additional display is being considered for the South Hall lobby in the near future, he added.
According to Jeremy Handel, LVCVA spokesman, the displays, which cost the LVCVA $14,000, are fed from three different sources to help maintain accuracy. The airlines’ corporate flight data automatically is input into the system, and flights also are tracked using information from the Federal Aviation Administration’s data center. Flight information also is able to be manually edited as necessary by local airline employees.
The addition of the FIDS makes the LVCC one of four convention centers in the United States that use real-time flight systems at their facilities, including Chicago’s McCormick Place, the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center of New York and the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont. While McCormick uses a system similar to the LVCC’s, Javits and Stephens use a system run by a third-party company, Flyte Systems.
The LVCC displays made their debut at the Specialty Equipment Market Assn.’s SEMA Show, held Nov. 4-7. According to Peter MacGillivray, SEMA vice president of marketing and communications, the newest travel amenity at the convention center very much was appreciated.
“I did notice the monitors at the convention center,” MacGillivray said. “While I didn’t see any significant use of the system, I appreciate any effort that helps attendees plan and participate in our tradeshow.”
