When Rossi Ralenkotter died, one friend called him Las Vegas’s ultimate ambassador. He probably would have denied it, but there was a lot of truth to that statement.
Ralenkotter was born in 1947 in Kentucky and came to Las Vegas at age four. He played baseball at Bishop Gorman before going to college and returning to Las Vegas. He had business degrees from Arizona State and UNLV, went to work at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, and stayed for 45 years. The LVCVA hired him to do market research, which they had never done. He suggested a study that evolved into the Las Vegas Visitor Profile, which is still updated each year. He started the regular Marketing Bulletin. A lot of what the LVCVA knows about tourism … a lot of what everybody knows about tourism … originated with his work.
Ralenkotter became chief marketing officer for the LVCVA. He worked with R&R on marketing plans for Las Vegas, and on a slogan: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. You may have heard of it. Then, in 2004, he began 14 years as president and CEO of the LVCVA.
Ralenkotter was a big sports fan, and saw its importance to tourism. He worked with Las Vegas Events to bring the National Finals Rodeo to Las Vegas in 1985. That was crucial. Not only did it reach an important, underused market. It also brought visitors and money to Las Vegas early each December, then a traditionally a slow time for tourism.
That wasn’t the only sport where Ralenkotter had an impact. He was crucial to starting the Las Vegas Bowl in 1992. As a baseball fan, he was deeply involved in the revitalization of Cashman Field, which had fallen into disrepair years after the Elks had built it in the late 1940s to host Helldorado and the Las Vegas Wranglers Class C minor league baseball team. When it reopened in 1983, Cashman Field Center was the home of the Triple A Las Vegas Stars, an affiliate of the San Diego Padres. More than three decades later, he was just as involved in helping to create the Las Vegas Ballpark in Summerlin to serve as the home of that Triple A franchise, now known as the Aviators. Appropriately, he was honored just before his death with his own bobblehead doll.
Of course the LVCVA is heavily involved in the convention business. Ralenkotter helped bring the International Consumer Electronics Show to Las Vegas each year. That meant visitors and money, but also attention for all of the new formats and gadgets being unveiled. Ralenkotter also steered the convention center toward its expansions. He proudly pointed out, “We did something that some cities don't do. We brought in our customers to get their input on the whole expansion because they were the ones who could tell us what was needed.”
His career at the LVCVA ended in 2018 over a series of newspaper reports that led to an investigation into the misuse of airline gift cards. He ended up reimbursing the LVCVA, pleading to a misdemeanor, and apologizing. He also said, “I think that anybody in any career that lasted as long as mine should be judged on the strength of what you accomplished.” Rossi Ralenkotter can be judged a major contributor to the growth and success of the most important industry in Las Vegas.
