On January 29th, according to a KTNV Las Vegas post and a Flight Simulation Association Facebook post, the ownership of The Tropicana Las Vegas made public that the resort will close down on April 2nd this year. For the flight simulation community, The Tropicana is the host for this year’s FlightSimExpo (FSExpo 2024), which was set to run from June 21st to June 23rd, making it not possible to do it at The Tropicana, with a closure date set in April.
New Challenges for FSExpo 2024
The Tropicana is one of the oldest hotels standing on the Las Vegas Strip. Built in 1957, the hotel has a rich history of hosting famous stars through the ages. According to the KTNV post, the property that the resort is on will be part of the future MLB stadium for the Athletics with a brand new “Integrated resort and ballpark,” which will require demolishing the standing structure. The company that manages the hotel, Bally’s Corporation, has announced that they will “Relocate all customer reservations” booked beyond April 2nd.
FSExpo 2024, set to start in June, is now in trouble as the resort’s closure date is before the event. Jonathan Halverson from the Flight Simulation Association (FSA), the organizers of the convention, published on Discord that the contract signed between the resort and FlightSimExpo, which took place before the Athletics MLB team signed to move to Las Vegas, states that “The Hotel will still be operating until 2025”, adding that this has come as a surprise to everyone. Evan Reiter from FSA has also published on Discord that the resort management hasn’t spoken to him about this and that they were still managing logistics for the event last Friday.
The latest development on the situation was released on the FSExpo website with a formal statement by FSA. In this statement, FSA was aware of discussions regarding the long-term future of the resort, extensive engagements with Hilton, hotel management, and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority confirmed that the Hotel was going to remain operational through 2025, making this announcement “an unforeseen development.”
The next step for FSExpo 2024 is to find a new venue for the event, according to this statement, “We have already arranged calls this week to discuss options with Tropicana and other potential venues,” also confirming FSA is still committed to holding the convention in Las Vegas. Attendees to the event are recommended not to make any changes to travel plans, and FSA will engage with The Tropicana about the bookings, room deposits, and next steps to take. This page will keep getting updates on the situation, and FSA recommends checking the official Discord for updates and engaging in the conversation. You can check previous FSExpo articles here.
