LV tourism officials think globally

In English it means, “Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada. Would you like a shrimp cocktail?” But in any language it translates to more money for the Las Vegas economy when Sin City boosters can use marketing savvy to lure more foreign tourists.

That’s why the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority voted Tuesday to spend nearly $1.5 million to renew marketing contracts in several countries and start new recruiting efforts in Canada.

The authority wants foreign guests to make up 15 percent of Las Vegas’ projected 43 million annual visitors by the end of 2010, a jump of about 2 percent from today’s rate.

Foreign marketing contracts it awarded to agencies in eight countries will pay to woo travel writers, sponsor trade show exhibits and operate Web sites in several languages.

“We are presenting Las Vegas today as an adult resort destination,” said Keith Mangum, chief operating officer of Mangum Management, a Munich-based marketing firm that got a renewed contract worth $228,800 to sell Las Vegas to German-speaking people. “If you are coming to America it fits in with what you want to do.”

Mangum said new flights from Germany to Las Vegas are evidence that German-speakers in Europe are learning more about Southern Nevada and that the marketing works. He said the number of German visitors through the third quarter of 2006 is up 26 percent over the pace in 2005, when 106,000 people visited Las Vegas from Germany.

“Airlines only add flights if they are being successful,” Mangum said. “There is no speculation allowed.”

Other nations where the authority renewed marketing contracts include the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, France, South Korea and Australia. It also launched a new marketing effort in Canada, the No. 1 source for foreign visitors to Las Vegas.

Recruiting foreign visitors is key to maintaining occupancy rates around 90 percent with about 133,000 hotel rooms in Southern Nevada. Foreign visitors, especially people from outside North America, also tend to spend more per person than domestic, Canadian and Mexican tourists.

Attracting foreign visitors to Las Vegas has been a challenge in recent years. Overseas visitation plummeted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and still hasn’t rebounded to 2000 levels. Las Vegas resorts have turned to Canada and Mexico to make up for the overseas shortfall.

Authority board members Chuck Bowling of MGM Mirage and Kara Kelley, CEO of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, questioned whether there would be enough accountability for the companies that get the foreign marketing contracts.

Kelley asked Terry Jicinsky, the authority’s senior vice president of marketing, whether in addition to filing reports on how they spend money the companies would be accountable for the number of visitors from target countries.

“I get a little nervous about holding people accountable based solely on their ability to spend the money they said they would,” Kelley said.

Bowling suggested setting performance goals that increase over time. Both board members voted unanimously in favor of the contracts as presented.