Las Vegas tourism chief could receive 6% raise, 45% bonus

Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, will receive a 6 percent pay raise and a 45 percent bonus if the organization’s board of directors approves a recommendation from its compensation committee.

The raise would boost Hill’s salary to $571,923 a year with a one-time bonus of $242,798.

The six-member committee unanimously recommended compensation for Hill and general counsel Caroline Bateman. The two packages will be considered for final approval at the LVCVA board’s July 14 meeting.

Compensation committee chairman Brian Gullbrants, chief operating officer of Wynn Resorts Ltd., praised the work accomplished by Hill and his team in the past year and approved his goal list for the next fiscal year.

Multiple responsibilities

“As I listen to the presentation and look at how we stack up against other cities, other destinations, this group of professionals, all of you sitting here, it’s a DMO (destination marketing organization), it’s a convention center, it’s a sports authority, it’s more than anybody else really does, and when you look at the revenue achievements and the followers and impressions and the list of events, I’m not sure what other events there are that we don’t already have,” Gullbrants said.

Unlike other similar organizations, the LVCVA not only provides destination marketing but also manages the Las Vegas Convention Center, and Hill also chairs the Las Vegas Stadium Authority, which is working with the Athletics to build a $2 billion Major League Baseball stadium.

“It’s almost as if I sit here and success is expected from this team because you’re so exceptional, and it’s really impressive to watch what you guys do, and it makes me proud to be a part of the community, the destination, to try to do our part to support all of you, but thank you for driving hard and achieving your goals and continuing to drive hard,” Gullbrants said.

The compensation committee arrived at the amount of compensation through a survey of the leaders of other destination marketing organizations. Even though Las Vegas is always considered the upper end for visitation, Hill’s level of pay is only slightly above the midpoint for compensation for the average director of a destination marketing organization.

Hill’s accomplishments

Among Hill’s accomplishments for the year were organizing America 250 events, driving Las Vegas to be the No. 1 and 2 ranked destinations on the English and Spanish language versions of TikTok, recruiting Super Bowl LXIII to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in 2029, securing the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix through 2037 and delivering big crowds to Wrestlemania events in Las Vegas in back-to-back years in 2025 and 2026.

Under Hill’s leadership, Las Vegas also secured a new sporting event, World Gymnaestrada 2031, and the Athletics stadium is on time and on budget to begin play for the 2028 baseball season.

The LVCVA’s destination sales group delivered 730,000 group sales nights.

The LVCVA team also secured new air service on Air France from Paris and from Sydney, Australia, on Qantas Airlines.

Hill also said he made “meaningful progress” on the Vegas Loop underground transit system being built throughout the city while maintaining operations of the Las Vegas Monorail.

Hill’s goals for 2026-27 will be to drive demand, grow meeting and convention demand, build a year-round sports and events engine, deliver a world-class convention center experience, improve access to and within the destination and strengthen the LVCVA’s capacity and culture.

The compensation committee also recommended a raise and bonus for Batemen in her legal work as general counsel. Hill’s recommendation of a 5 percent base increase in salary and a 20 percent bonus would raise her annual salary to $278,250 with a one-time bonus of $53,000.