Las Vegas launched its convention season this week with the unveiling of a $600 million renovation whose first user is CES, the global technology show. The Consumer Technology Association’s annual Las Vegas trade show starts Tuesday with the Convention Center and various hotels on the Strip hosting meetings and events.
In 2025, the Convention Center itself hosted 49 conventions with about 1.06 million attendees; CES was the largest, attracting more than 140,000 visitors, some 40% from abroad. Overall in 2025 through November, citywide convention attendance of 5.68 million was down 0.6%. Total visitation of 35.4 million was 7.4% lower than through the first 11 months of 2025. The destination is on track to have three million fewer visitors in 2025 when final numbers are released later this month.
“Welcome to what is now the greatest convention center in the United States,” said Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority in kicking off a celebration Monday that culminated in a ribbon cutting of its Central Hall. “A customer a few years ago said it’s finally going to be a great thing to have an A-plus facility in an A-plus destination. It’s a great way to start 2026.”
Hill said it’s appropriate that the first convention with the entire facility open, which includes its Central Hall renovation and expansion of the West Hall, will be CES.
“They’re part of the Las Vegas brand and synonymous with Las Vegas,” Hill said. “When we talk about meetings matter, it starts with CES.”
Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, said the partnership with Las Vegas has been special and both have grown together. He said it was so cold at CES in Chicago in 1977 that no one left their hotels. That was when his predecessor suggested they consider Las Vegas, which was known for divorces, gambling, and better weather in January.
“There were no business events of any kind and it was considered a very risky move, but boy, did it work out well for us,” Shapiro said. “It helped establish Las Vegas as a business destination, where business travelers can even out the inconsistencies and ups and downs of the leisure travelers. That has sparked a relationship that has lasted five decades.”
Shapiro called it the best convention center in the world and attendees will be in awe when they see it on Tuesday. There will be more than 4,000 exhibitors at this year’s show.
“That truly shows this is a world trade center,” Shapiro said. “Other than F1, the Olympics, and World Cup, nothing else in the U.S. gets as many international travelers. When you add up the other events Las Vegas has, this is the business destination of the world.”
CES will use 2.6 million square feet of the Convention Center’s space. Shapiro said estimates show $500 million in direct spending the week of CES, creating thousands of jobs.
“Las Vegas is our home and I suspect will always be our home,” Shapiro said.
Jim Gibson, Clark County commissioner and chair of the LVCVA Board of Directors, said convention visitors in 2024 spent $10 billion, which supported 46,000 jobs and $2.7 billion in wages. “The new Las Vegas Convention Center will help attract more events, delegates and economic activity for Clark County residents.”
Kinsey Fabrizio, Consumer Technology Association president, praised the newly installed state-of-the-art technology of the Convention Center that will help people navigate their way around all the halls.
“It’s great for Las Vegas and signifies this is a wonderful state-of-the-art place to do business and gather people and bring the world together in many different industries,” Fabrizio said in an interview.
Shapiro followed that by saying most people think of Las Vegas as for tourists and vacations, but companies come to Las Vegas to do business and grow the U.S. economy that makes it the most innovative country in the world.
“It’s important for a country’s future that innovators can come to one place to learn, and Las Vegas is better than any place in the world for that,” Shapiro said.
With its 150,000 hotel rooms and international airport close to the Strip, Shapiro said Las Vegas has everything to welcome visitors from overseas.
