Caesars Entertainment is converting Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino into a vaccination site for thousands of its employees in April. The hotel and gaming giant announced a partnership with Albertsons to administer between 1,000 and 2,000 Pfizer shots during large-scale vaccine events.

Gilberto Salcedo, vice president of tourism at ProColombia, loves to study numbers. “That’s one of my obsessions,” he admitted.

The pandemic has, naturally, curtailed the momentum Colombia had generated hosting meetings and events. But Salcedo is convinced the slowdown is temporary and has the statistics to back his case.

As the event and tourism industry begins its slow journey toward post-pandemic normalcy, it has become clear that hybrid events – those with both socially distanced in-person and virtual components – will be a vital part of the return of live meetings and conventions. Thus, many hospitality communities across the nation are doing their part to adapt to this new reality, including CVBs.

Add Oahu to the destinations ready to welcome groups back. Days after the island’s gathering restrictions were eased on March 11, Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu launched a campaign alerting events professionals that it is open for business.

Awaiting a renaissance of the events industry, Explore St. Louis turned to Michelangelo to drive customers to the America’s Center.

A financial incentive program created by the Utah Office of Tourism paid off with the booking of 30 events to be held in Salt Lake City in 2021. Visit Salt Lake projects that the events will fill 28,000 room nights, a remarkable feat as the country battles through the pandemic.

Since the pandemic brought the live events industry to a screeching halt one year ago, convention center staff across the country have been working overtime to find creative ways to keep their spaces occupied and employees working.

As the heart of South Padre Island’s meeting and event business, the South Padre Island Convention Center is accustomed to hosting an array of year-round corporate and consumer events. These range from fishing tournaments to quilt shows to college basketball tournaments. 

Last year wasn’t exactly a great one for Nashville. The popular music and events destination not only suffered fallout from the pandemic, but also a Christmas morning suicide bombing that injured eight people, severely damaged more than 40 buildings in a historic downtown district and crippled telecommunication systems throughout the Southeast for days.

The city of Chicago is getting ready to lure back meetings and convention business in 2021 with a little help from digital technology. Launched Jan.