Sin City worries its image hurts business travel

LAS VEGAS — Sin City is worried that its well-honed style is crimping its business.

Born of carefully crafted slogans — "What happens here stays here" — and smiling, sequined showgirls, the image of a 24-hour adult Disneyland with free-flowing booze and casino chips is making the tourist destination seem radioactive to companies keen on not appearing frivolous as they seek government bailouts.

In the past two weeks, at least four major companies canceled meetings worth hundreds of thousands of dollars — not because of costs but because of appearances. Even President Barack Obama questioned the propriety of flying off to Las Vegas if taxpayers were helping foot the bill.

Tourism officials, already nervous after watching meeting and convention attendance decline 5 percent in 2008, are challenging the impression that business meetings are wasteful — especially those conducted under the neon lights of Las Vegas.

"It's necessary, for us to thrive in this community, that folks come here and realize that this is not some stepchild," Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said. "This is a very important place for people to conduct very important business."

Goodman — who often appears at functions with a showgirl at each arm — sent a letter this week to Obama objecting to his remarks.

"You can't get corporate jets, you can't go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer's dime," Obama said during a town hall meeting in Indiana.

Obama's comment came after Wells Fargo & Co. canceled a conference at two high-end Las Vegas hotels in response to a barrage of criticism from Capitol Hill after The Associated Press reported on the company's previous luxury-laden trips for its top employees.

The company, which received a $25 billion bailout, cried foul in a full-page New York Times ad and said media reports about bailed-out companies have been "deliberately misleading." The bank said it would cancel all its recognition events this year.

Wells Fargo is not alone. Since the fall, companies that have taken $277 billion in federal assistance through the Troubled Asset Relief Program have faced increased scrutiny for travel practices by lawmakers and an angry public.