Meetings and Events Las Vegas | Environmentally Conscious Meeting Transportation

The Las Vegas Monorail connects eight major resorts, linking more than 25,000 hotel rooms and about 4.4 million square feet of meeting and convention space, including one of the world's largest convention centers.

Environmentally Conscious Meeting Transportation

Article By: Melissa Sheldon of VI: Volume 4 - Issue 1

If you have not gotten on the green and sustainability bandwagon, now is a good time to do so, literarily. As organizations gather for meetings and events, many materials are used to support the consumption of travel, food, entertainment, and event services. In fact, the organization’s internal green and sustainability initiatives are often addressed during meetings so it makes perfect sense to incorporate these practices and others into your event planning. The following article is meant to serve as a template for what the typical event attendee could encounter during the course of a meeting planners prepared itinerary. Starting with arrival at McCarran International Airport, ending with departure, and addressing everything requiring transportation in between.

Event and meeting transportation is one area which is gaining more attention as vendors continue to come online with green alternatives for moving out-of-towners in and around Las Vegas. Many attendees flying into McCarran International Airport will have already begun their environmentally-conscious journey by flying on a direct flight, void of the substances and materials needed to support a layover or connecting departure. Las Vegas is a focus city for Allegiant and Southwest airlines which provide plenty of direct flight options.

Once attendees have touched down, it is likely that a vehicle will be needed to transport them to their hotel. Here is where logistical forethought can save on waste and money, coordinate arrival times so the travelers share a rental car. McCarran International Airport uses the Consolidated Rental Car Facility, located 3 miles from the airport, which houses 11 rental car companies. The airport provides free buses from the terminals to the facility. This is a good option for attendees who may be traveling together throughout the event so that the rideshare practice can be incorporated throughout the duration of their stay. Go a step further and request that a low emission hybrid vehicle be used instead of a standard car. Hybrid vehicles available for rent include Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, Ford Escape and the Toyota Highlander. Not only will a hybrid vehicle start your event off in the right gear, it will save money on fuel that standard cars use due to their increased ratio of miles per gallon. This can save a considerable amount of budget money allocated for transportation, especially during the summer months when gasoline prices are at their highest.

If corporate transportation is being arranged separately from the rental cars at the airport for the remainder of the event, it is a better idea economically to have groups utilize a shuttle to their hotel. Since the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown area is sparse and expensive when it comes to parking, personal vehicles are not typically used unless staying in a more remote part of the Valley like Henderson or Lake Las Vegas. However, your particular event may include satellite meetings in which case rental cars are in fact a sensible choice. Your organizations social media network can be used to determine any group ground transportation ahead of time. While on the site, attendees can learn more about your company’s environmentally friendly initiatives and how their upcoming meeting travel addresses them.

If accommodations are arranged for on-Strip or Downtown lodging, you will find that many free shuttles are provided at no cost for casino-to-casino travel. By meeting planners making this information available to attendees, they can maximize use of these environmentally-friendly programs. A shuttle bus between The Orleans Hotel & Casino and its sister property Gold Coast Hotel and Casino, as well as the Las Vegas strip is operated 7 days a week from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Pick-ups are made approximately every 30 to 45 minutes. Running about every 30 minutes is the shuttle between Harrah’s, Bally’s/Paris, and Rio. Sam’s Town visits the following properties between the hours of 8 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. in 45 to 60 minute intervals: California/Fremont, Main Street Station and Riviera and Harrah’s on the Stip.

The quick and climate-controlled monorail is also an easy mode for group transportation. The monorail can rapidly take you from one end of the Strip to the other in just 15 minutes, plus 99 percent of scheduled stops are made on time – eliminating traffic as a reason for tardiness. For those more interested in shopping than gambling, once the days meeting has adjourned of course, The Hard Rock Hotel and The Palms provide shuttles to Caesars Forum Shops and Fashion Show Mall for retail therapy.

An exciting and popular mode of transportation for recreation is Segway rentals. The two-wheeled, self-balancing electric vehicles are inherently pro-environment and they are a fun, leisurely way to explore Las Vegas. Several companies in Las Vegas offer professionally guided Segway tours as well as self-guided tours for personal exploration or a group journey. For more active meeting attendees, bicycling is an ideal way to discover the splendor of the Las Vegas Valley. One of the newest bike paths in the Las Vegas Valley is the River Mountains Trail. More than 30 miles surround the River Mountains connecting Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Hoover Dam, Henderson, Boulder City and the rest of the Las Vegas Valley. Tour companies offer everything needed to get started on your journey and packages can include modified trails for beginners and advanced cyclist. The heat during summer months in Las Vegas can be extreme so be sure your Segway or bicycle recreation is suitable for weather conditions and fitness levels.

Your meeting and event guests are not just confined to the marquee Las Vegas hotels on the Strip and Downtown with so much desert beauty at their footsteps. Day trips to nearby locations like Mesquite and Laughlin can be arranged with the focus on using bio-diesel shuttles or transportation fleets with newer vehicles that emit less carbon monoxide. This is another well-liked way to explore greater Las Vegas without having to exert a lot of energy. Furthermore, you can work with the green transportation provider to enact a “no idle” policy which is not always common practice since drivers like to keep the vehicle on while parked to keep the air conditioning running.

When planning a day trip consider the striking city of Mesquite, tucked in the Virgin River Valley on the edge of the Nevada/Arizona border. With just six or more guests, Mesquite travel can be customized to visit spas, golf courses, or the scenic wonders which define the area. It will be hard to ignore the importance of green initiatives and sustainability while your guests explore the terrain of the beautiful mountain clusters.

Laughlin and Primm are other viable day trip options. In addition to cutting down on car engine emissions, the advantage of employing charter buses for group travel is also financial. Many charter bus companies receive incentives from casinos to bring people to their property and these incentives are often passed on to the passengers with meal coupons, gift merchandise, and sometimes even free slot play. Planners can use these day trips to team build or extend the invitation to the attendees spouse before hand; if spousal travel is supported by your organization.

Just because you are taking your event travel to a “greener level” doesn’t mean luxury transportation is out of the question. Some might say green is the new black when combing style and lavishness with environmentally-friendly limousine services. One Las Vegas-based company, Earth Limos & Buses, has a fleet that runs only on clean fuel, which means the eco-friendly vehicles produce ultra-low emissions. These types of companies are proving that a next generation of luxury limousine travel service is attainable and desired. Although luxury travel is not practical for each event attendee, it can be a way to honor special guests or offered as an incentive for employees.

When the time comes for the meeting or event attendees to depart by ground or plane, they can go knowing that they will be leaving behind a smaller carbon footprint, or tire mark, then their corporate travel counterparts. As the meeting planner, seamlessly incorporating these few simple transportation ideas can help achieve your meeting and event sustainability goals without incurring any extra cost or added work. The green conversation can continue once the meeting has adjourned and attendees may even develop their own low-eco impact transportation ideas.