Paul Szydelko
As improbable as it was to see a portion of a Boeing 747 being transported on Las Vegas streets to become part of Area15, it is just as hard to get my head around the fact that the experiential arts and entertainment district is marking its fifth anniversary in the city.
It has attracted 13 million guests since opening on the heels of the Covid-related shutdown. Among its almost two dozen attractions are Meow Wolf's Omega Mart, Illuminarium, Museum Fiasco, Wink World, the Haley's Comet zipline, Laser Maze, Dueling Axes, the Dopeameme Institute for Pleasure Research and its most recent addition: the John Wick Experience.
Initial components of an ambitious 20-acre campus expansion are Universal Horror Unleashed (set to open Aug. 14) and the Museum of Ice Cream (a 2026 debut). And then there's that 150-foot-long fuselage, last seen at Burning Man in 2017, which is expected to become the centerpiece of a unique cocktail and dining experience.
I recently had a chance to speak with Michael Casper, Area 15's vice president of business development. Our conversation was edited for brevity and clarity.
Q: You've been here since before Area15 opened. What's been its secret sauce?
A: It's combination of curation and context. We're constantly trying to find the best experiences that fit and work together. It's not doubling up on experiences that compete with each other. It's also finding things that work together to drive audiences. We've been hugely focused on the artistic feel built around our anchor tenant, Omega Mart by Meow Wolf, while adding a lot of other things that meet that demographic fit, which is strongly the 25-to-34-year-old demographic.
Michael Casper, Area 15’s vice president of business development.
As we expand [physically], we're looking to expand that demographic. While a theme park is able to have one offering that fits all different demographics, we want to have different offerings that appeal to the different demographics. So that curation is important.
Context is how we've (addressed) the competitive landscape of Las Vegas: being able to have people enter with art in the entryway, a curated feel with the lighting and the sound. That allows people to go into these experiences in the right mindset, as opposed to coming in off of a mall that is -- no offense -- a sterile environment.
Q: What is the mix of tourists and locals?
A. We're about 70% tourist, 30% local, which skews more local than many might expect. Driving 13 million visitors since we opened, you have to tap into that tourist audience in Las Vegas. Really what it's about is the metrics of repeat visitation. Given that we're trying to appeal to those tourists, we're trying to take big swings of new experiences every year to get tourists to come back once a year.
Q: How do you decide what attractions or tenants will work?
A: There's a first threshold -- finding experiences that have the financing, the creative appeal and the ability to operate. That three-legged stool is the essential starting point. The second threshold is finding an experience that would either uplift our current demographic or add a new demographic. And then the third bit is uniqueness. What we're trying to avoid is things that, while people love them and they're successful, they're kind of homogeneous across different locations. What we really want is for Area15's offering to be so unique that it goes through those lines.
Q: What else have you learned over the five years?
A: The big thing we've learned and changed, from a business sense, is how we offer our tickets. Very early, we were an individualized ticket model. You would buy one thing after another, and that became a little too complicated to the guests. So we started to offer these experience-pack bundles that make it easier for the guests to have a one-stop shop that fulfills their two hours or half day or full day at Area15.
Q: What is the goal of the campus' expansion?
A: The goal is to widen our audience and offer things that appeal to people that may not find appeal from the current offerings. What that's been about is leaning into some pop culture things. The John Wick Experience opened two weeks ago. Universal Horror Unleashed opening Aug.14 is our anchor tenant for the expansion. The Museum of Ice Cream will broaden the demographics, and Interstellar Arc by Felix & Paul Studios gives that amazing media and tech feel while also giving the chance to dive deep in space exploration, which obviously has a broad audience.
Q: How does Area15 fit with Vegas' reputation for broadening its appeal beyond gaming?
A: Vegas is always taking the guest from spectator to participant. Whether it was gaming, then the best-in-class restaurants, to nightclubs when you get to be the center of the party, to now immersive experiences, where guests really get to dive into these worlds that they love. Whether it's intellectual property-based like the John Wick Experience, or whether it's competitive leisure like ax throwing and golf, Area15 is at the front line of this experiential revolution.