• The Palazzo opened in 2008 with 3,000 all-suite guest rooms, dining, shopping, and entertainment near the Venetian hotel and the Sands Expo and Convention Center. It brings total meeting space for the Las Vegas complex to more than 2.25 million square feet.

• MGM Mirage's City Center in Las Vegas, a $9.2 billion “urban metropolis” encompassing 18 million square feet of hotels, residences, and amenities, is opening three hotels in 2009. Following the 2008 debut of the 3,000-room Palazzo are the 400-room Mandarin Oriental; Vdara, a 57-story condominium hotel; and the 4,000-room ARIA Resort & Casino. The project's Harmon Hotel & Spa will open with 400 guest rooms in 2010.

• Off the Vegas Strip, M Resort opened in 2009 with 390 guest rooms, 60,000 square feet of meeting space, and a 100,000-square-foot pool complex.

• After a multimillion-dollar, multiphase renovation, the former Aladdin Resort and Casino is now Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, offering 2,518 movie-themed guest rooms and suites, eight restaurants, five night clubs, two performance venues, a spa, and 75,000 square feet of meeting space.

Trip Tips

• A $1.4 billion light-rail system debuted in downtown Phoenix in December 2008. The 20-mile line has stops at Phoenix Art Museum, Heard Museum, Chase Field, and US Airways Center, as well as a shuttle station that serves Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The one-way fare is $1.25 and an all-day pass is $2.50.

• Meeting planners can easily organize their next function by utilizing the Scottsdale CVB's redesigned Web site, www.ExperienceScottsdale.com. View the Scottsdale CVB's 600-plus members' services and offerings, meeting space dimensions, and proximity to the airport. Planners can submit an online RFP and have access to discount group rates, and downloadable photography,

Ask the CVB

Arizona

Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau
(877) MEET-PHX, (602) 254-6500
www.MEETPHX.com

Scottsdale CVB
(800) 782-1117, (480) 421-1004
www.MeetinScottsdale.com

Metropolitan Tucson CVB
(800) 638-8350, (520) 624-1817
www.visittucson.org

Nevada

Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority
(877) 847-4858, (702) 892-0711
www.lvcva.com

New Mexico

Albuquerque CVB
(800) 733-9918, (505) 842-9918
www.itsatrip.org

Santa Fe CVB
(800) 984-9984, (505) 955-6200
www.santafe.org