Orlando & Las Vegas CVB Teams Rival for Corporate Meetings

Orlando and Las Vegas have long been rivals for attracting corporate business meetings. The cities hold the top two slots in North America for having the most hotel rooms. Orlando has 145,000 rooms compared to 150,000 in Vegas. 

VIDEO -- Las Vegas Team Building

Both cities have mild weather on their side, a big selling point. But if meeting planners are seeking a large outdoor team building programs, Orlando wins over the Vegas Strip. Orlando is more spread out, with open space, and theme parks relatively free of congestion.

Venture Up has been running programs in Orlando and Las Vegas for three decades. Most of our Vegas clients stay at hotels on the Strip and we host their corporate team events in ballrooms. Corporate meetings in Vegas are not all about fun and games.

These days, most of our team events involve social responsibility, for example a bike-building event to benefit the Boys & Girls Club, or large check donations for a social service organization.

Other corporate groups spend grueling days in training sessions, leaving the nights free for the casino and shows. “When Venture Up arrives on site to break up a daytime classroom meetings, the executives couldn’t be happier,” says Mike Donnelly, a Venture Up team leader for more than 25 years.

When it comes to outdoor team building in Las Vegas, the Amazing Race gets high marks. Its fast, fun, competitive and chaotic, usually held on the flashiest street in America, the Strip. Other outdoor events take place at sprawling resorts beyond the Neon city.

Orlando is no slouch when it comes to fun events. It tops the scales with its theme parks, and a big one is coming soon. Disney just announced a project to build a Star Wars Theme Park in Orlando and Anaheim. Each will span a 14-acre spread and have two signature attractions. Visitors can take to the controls of the Millennium Falcon on a custom secret mission. The Star Warsadventure ride will propel guests in the center of a galactic battle.

“We are creating a jaw-dropping new world,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger in a recent USA Today article. “We’re bringing Star Wars to life in a big way … These new lands … will transport guests to a whole new Star Wars planet.” No time frame was given for the completion of the parks.