Friday, December 17, 2004
Copyright @ Las Vegas Review-Journal

Report gives merit to Nevada's plan
Travel group says more Chinese will visit U.S.
By CHRIS JONES
GAMING WIRE

Nevada leaders have for years touted China's potential to become a lucrative feeder market for the state's tourism and convention industries. This week, those claims were further validated by one of the nation's most-respected travel advocacy groups.

The Washington-based Travel Industry Association of America released a nearly 100-page report profiling the economic impact of China and three other emerging travel markets -- India, Russia and Poland. While each of the nations examined still has travel-related challenges, TIA is confident their residents will soon play a larger role in supporting the United States' international tourism industry.

"The four country markets chosen ... all have rapidly growing economies. A growing economy is one of the strongest indicators of tourism growth," said the report, which was compiled using data supplied by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Not surprisingly, the world's most populous nation headed TIA's list. This year, China is expected to send 171,000 visitors to the United States, an increase of 8.7 percent from last year but down more than 30 percent from 2000's peak of nearly 250,000.

Despite the past four years' downturn -- which TIA said resulted from China's shift from business to leisure travel, which often requires a difficult-to-obtain tourist visa -- efforts are under way to bolster visitor exchanges between the United States and China. Recent progress includes a July deal to add more direct flights, and this month's pledge to soon grant the United States Approved Destination Status, which would ease Chinese groups' ability to travel here.

Bruce Bommarito, a TIA board member, has for the past few years spearheaded Nevada's efforts to reach out to China in his role as executive director of the Nevada Commission on Tourism. He said Thursday he's pleased others are catching on to something those here have long understood.

"When we first started talking about China ... it caused a lot of raised eyebrows," Bommarito said. "TIA's research shows that what we are doing makes sense."

And because TIA is well-known on Capitol Hill, Bommarito is optimistic its positive appraisal could speed up efforts to ease today's restrictions on Sino-American travel.

TIA cited Nevada's license to promote travel in China, adding, "This is the type of strategy that can help U.S. travel professionals to take advantage of the growing Chinese travel market." The state opened an office in Beijing in June and is working on a Web site for prospective Chinese visitors, among other efforts.

Terry Jicinsky, senior vice president of marketing for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said his organization won't step up its efforts to market in China until its citizens can more easily obtain visas to travel to the United States.

"We'll be more aggressive, and dedicate more financial resources toward China, at the time" the visa issue is resolved, he said. For now, the convention authority is content to follow the state's lead in the People's Republic.

With 1.05 billion residents and a developing economy, India has also become a key player in the global travel industry. A highly educated work force has created global demand for its technical workers, a trend reflected in double-digit increases in outbound travel from India in 2000 and 2002, TIA said.

The average visitor from India spent more than $2,300 per party per trip in 2002, the most recent spending information available. Overall, Indian travelers spent nearly $1.1 billion in the United States that year.

In 2004, Indian arrivals to the United States are expected to approach 279,000, making it one of the first countries to recover to pre-Sept. 11, 2001, levels. TIA expects those arrivals will grow by 8 percent over the next two years.

However, Nevada leaders are in the initial stages of studying India's viability as an inbound travel market for the state.

"They don't have the propensity to (gamble) that Asians do; that does make them a little less attractive to us," Bommarito said.

Despite TIA's positive appraisal, the commission is cool to the idea that many Russian or Polish tourists will soon visit here due to expanded marketing efforts from Nevada.

"Russia scares us because of the volatility of the people and the economy," Bommarito said. "There's a lot of crime in Russia ... and we're going to probably stay out of that one for a while." Poland is being monitored, but nations like Vietnam and Thailand offer greater short-term potential for the state's travel-dependent businesses, he added.

The convention authority also has no plans to focus on India, Russia or Poland. Until local hotel companies report significant business from those nations, Las Vegas will focus on areas where it has established foreign marketing programs.

"We continue to operate under the philosophy of fishing where the fish are," Jicinsky said, citing the United Kingdom, Japan and several other productive overseas markets.

Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Copyright @ Las Vegas Review-Journal

TOURISM: A new sense of reality
'The Nevada Passage' a twist on TV genre
By CHRIS JONES
GAMING WIRE

"The Nevada Passage," a made-for-TV reality show, will pit teams of amateur athletes against each other in contests held throughout the state. In one event, contestants will bicycle and hike through Lamoille Canyon near Elko.
PHOTO COURTESY OF NEVADA COMMISSION ON TOURISM

"The Nevada Passage," a six-day series, wraps filming May 24 with a whitewater kayaking race through downtown Reno.
PHOTO COURTESY OF NEVADA COMMISSION ON TOURISM

RENO - Hoping to emulate The Donald's success with "The Apprentice" while avoiding the critical backlash that was "The Casino," proponents of outdoor adventures in Nevada's backcountry will soon take their message to the masses using a first-of-its-kind reality television program.

The Nevada Commission on Tourism on Tuesday said it is in the early stages of developing "The Nevada Passage," a 60-minute, made-for-television program that will pit teams of amateur athletes against each other in a variety of competitions held throughout the state.

The commission expects the $250,000 program will be syndicated in more than 80 television markets, giving an audience of approximately 2 million viewers a new perspective on how to have fun in Nevada.

"Through this competition, viewers will be able to see the beautiful outback of Nevada. It's just the kind of exposure we want," Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt, who is also commission chairwoman, said in introducing the show at the annual Governor's Conference on Tourism at the Reno Hilton.

The show's first segment, which features a rock-climbing competition, will be taped May 19 at Red Rock Canyon near Las Vegas. Over the following five days, participants will race personal watercraft at Lake Mead; conduct a four-wheel drive based treasure hunt near Ely; bicycle and hike through Lamoille Canyon near Elko; and ride snowboards down a sand mountain near Fallon. The six-day series wraps May 24 with a whitewater kayaking race through downtown Reno.

Event highlights will also be shown in two 30-minute television programs airing on major networks and local affiliates. Those shows are expected to attract another 3 million viewers.

About three years ago, the commission shifted its focus toward marketing outdoor recreation as a supplement to well-known Nevada amenities like nightlife and gaming. "The Nevada Passage" marks the organization's most ambitious pitch to date, Executive Director Bruce Bommarito said.

"This is really one of the great adventure states in the country, and we want to share that message," Bommarito said.

"The Nevada Passage" will be produced by TEAM Unlimited of Honolulu, which also put together the Nissan XTERRA USA Championship Race at Lake Tahoe, as well as Las Vegas-based R&R Partners, which handles the commission's public relations. Paul Mitchell beauty products, Nissan North America and XTERRA Gear are co-sponsors.

Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Copyright @ Las Vegas Review-Journal

`Wide Open' marketing deal likely to be renewed
By CHRIS JONES
GAMING WIRE

Bruce Bommarito
Director says license plates promoting Nevada tourism on the way

RENO -- Buoyed by the success of its current "Wide Open" marketing campaign, the Nevada Commission on Tourism will likely extend its two-year marketing contract with DRGM Advertising & Public Relations when it expires June 30.

The state-supported tourism agency in late February launched the television portion of its first campaign under Reno-based DRGM. Playing heavily on Nevada's abundance of wide-open spaces -- but not so heavily that it alienated all but hard-core outdoor adventurers -- the campaign has produced substantial interest among prospective Nevada visitors, Commission Executive Director Bruce Bommarito said Monday.

"Every indicator we have says we're up this year, and that's a reflection on our ad campaign," Bommarito said during the commission's quarterly board meeting at the Reno Hilton.

Through October, calls placed to the commission's telephone information hot line had increased by nearly 93 percent from the same period of 2003, Bommarito said. Despite efforts to encourage would-be tourists to get their information online, brochures and other materials shipped by mail climbed by nearly 43 percent during the period.

Based partly on those figures, Commissioner Ray Pearson, an executive with Winnemucca's Winners Hotel and Casino, asked if Monday's gathering was the proper time to discuss an extension to DRGM's deal, which is valued at approximately $2.7 million per year.

Because an extension was not on the posted agenda, the commission decided to postpone a contract discussion until its board reconvenes next spring. Bommarito later said a one-year extension would likely result at that time.

"We could put it out for the full bidding process, or the board could extend the current deal for one year up to two more times," he said. "It usually takes a long time to get these (new campaigns) started, so in the past we've always opted to extend."

In other business Monday:

� Bommarito said special license plates promoting the state's tourism industry will likely be seen on Nevada's roadways in April or May. A design has not been completed, but plans now call for images of a golfer, mountains and water set atop the blue and yellow hues used in the "Wide Open" campaign's marketing materials.

Each license number will begin with the letters "NV" and will include the commission's Web site, www.travelnevada.com. Bommarito hopes sales will generate $200,000 per year in funding for rural tourism marketing efforts.

� Several commissioners, including Chairwoman and Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt, again expressed optimism that Nevada will soon see an increase in Chinese tourism.

Bommarito recently discussed Las Vegas-China air service with representatives of Northwest and China Southern Airlines; both companies expressed interest in new service to Nevada, he said.

The federal government's recent accord with Beijing to allow more commercial flights between the two nations was also a good sign for Nevada's efforts in Asia, including the first state-sponsored travel office within the People's Republic, Hunt added.

Still, direct China-to-Nevada air service is likely three years away, Bommarito told Hunt.

The state media said on December 6, 2004 that China's leaders pledged at a key policy meeting to keep the economy on track next year while raising farm incomes, promoting engergy conservation and holding down investment in overheated industries. The Chinese economy is forecasr to grow by a blistering 9 percent this year --- far above the official target of 7 percent.*1

Present Hu Jintao*2 and other members of the communist Party's ruling Standing Committee issue the plans at a three-day conference that ended on December 5, 2004. The reports said that "(The Government) will continue to put macroeconomic control on top of the agenda for next year's plan."*3

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References

*1. Hoo, Stephanie. "China leaders call economy rpiority,' "Business Section of Las Vegas Review-Journal," (December 7, 2004), Las Vegas, Nevada: LVRJ.
*2. Hu Jintao was elected president of the People's Republic of China on March 15, 2003. He is now general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, president of the People's Republic of China, chairman of the Central Military Commission. Hu Jintao, a native of Jixi, Anhui Province, was born in December 1942. He joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in April 1964 and began to work in July 1965 after he graduated from the Water Conservancy Engineering Department of Tsinghua University, where he had a major in the study of hub hydropower stations. He is an engineer.
*3. Hoo, Stephanie. Ibid.

Enthusiasm is a very beautiful word!
By Tiffany Chang and PAI of WBTI*1

Enthusiasm is important, especially very important to many things in our lives. We are pleased to quote the following three short but meaningful ones:

***** There is nothing greater than enthusiasm. ---Henry Moore
***** If you don't have enthusiasm, you don't have anything. ---Kemmons Wilson, Sr.
***** Nothing good or great can be done in the absence of enthusiasm. ---Tom Peters

It's our pleasure to post a short story from "Speaker's Source Book II" by Glenn Van Ekeren:

The word enthusiasm comes from the Greek roots en and theos and means "God within." It is a fire, a passion within. Real enthusiasm is not something you "put on" and "take off " to fit the occasion. It is a way of life.
Apparently Theodore Roosevelt possessed that kind of passionate lifestyle. In 1883, according to Bernard Levin, writing in Enthusiasms (Crown Publishers), Roosevelt went buffalo hunting in the Badlands of South Dakota with a single companion, Joe Ferris. They nearly died of thirst, and they slept on the ground, saddles their only pillows. One night wolves caused their horses to bolt, and it took some time for the
fleeing beasts to be recaptured. The men went back to sleep; it began to rain heavily and they awoke, finding themselves lying in four inches of water. Shivering between sodden blankets, Ferris heard Teddy Roosevelt exclaim, "By Godfrey, but this is fun!"
Now that's enthusiasm!*2

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References

*1. PAI of WBTI is the initial of Public Administration Institution of Washington Business and Technology Institute (WBTI).
*2. Ekeren, Glenn Van. "Speaker's Source Book II," (1994), Prentice Hall Press, Paramus, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Press.

http://communitylink.reviewjournal.com/lvrj/wbti

Sincerely,

WBTI