Las Vegas Sun NewsPush for foreign Las Vegas visitation pays dividends
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Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun
Mexican airline Volaris gets a ceremonial arch of water courtesy of the Clark County Fire Department as it makes its inaugural arrival at McCarran International Airport Wednesday, March 30, 2011.
Friday
1 July 2011
12:43 p.m.
Las Vegas visitors from South Korea and China increased by 60 and 38 percent last year, respectively, while visitors from Canada, Australia, Germany and France increased by more than 20 percent for each country, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said Friday.
Last year’s 6.7 million foreign visitors spent $6.6 billion in Southern Nevada, accounting for 27 percent of tourism revenue. That figure is growing as local officials step up efforts to attract foreign tourists who tend to stay longer and spend more money than their domestic counterparts — a trend that’s helping recession-battered Las Vegas.
The average international visitor spent $1,011 on nongambling activities compared with $627 spent by the average domestic visitor, according to the authority’s annual visitor profile.
Within 10 years, the authority hopes to increase to 30 percent the percentage of visitors from other countries, which rose to 18 percent last year from 14 percent in 2009.
The authority attributes the increase to more aggressive marketing efforts, favorable exchange rates, improvements in foreign economies and an overall increase in foreign tourism in the United States.
“When the U.S. gains in international travel, Las Vegas typically mirrors, if not exceeds that increase,” said Kevin Bagger, the authority’s senior director of marketing.
The authority and McCarran International Airport officials are working to secure more international nonstop flights to Las Vegas.
Since April, Las Vegas has hosted new nonstop flights from Guadalajara, Mexico and Manchester, England. British Airways has expanded capacity on its nonstop flights from London by 18 percent, and France’s XL Airways reinstituted a seasonal nonstop flight from Paris.
Tourism officials are pressing the federal government to ease visa restrictions in China, a booming economy where visitors to the U.S. are expected to increase 219 percent by 2015, according to federal estimates. South Koreans have flocked to Las Vegas and other U.S. tourism destinations after visa requirements were lifted by the United States in 2008.
The authority has contracts with 15 marketing offices used to promote Las Vegas in more than 70 countries, including growth areas such as South Korea, China and India. Up to 80 percent of Las Vegas’ foreign visitors come from Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom.
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It is unfortunate that the teapotty movement and Republicans like Congressional candidate Alamode disseminates xenophobic and hateful imagery regarding Asians, as others try to improve trade and tourism.
I wonder if we wouldn't see more visitors if the right wing republican teabaggers didn't use their hate for anyone who isn't a White Christian. The money we can make in this town from foreign visitors is significant. I hope the right will some day dial back their xenophobic and racist approach so these people feel welcome here. As far as I am concerned they are for sure.
Impressive percentages, but what are the actual numbers of Chinese and South Koreans this year over last?
Chunky says:
The Chinese and Asian markets have all the money to spend. Maybe that has something to do with it.
Regardless, load up the planes and bring them over here! Las Vegas is open for business!
That's what Chunky thinks!
If the Feds would stop the nonsense of restricting, overcharging and making the visa application process cumbersome/time consuming for visitors from Asia, the international counts would soar. We let drug/gun runners cross our borders from the north and south unrestricted, while making viable visitors from most Asian countries wait 3-6 months and pay hundreds of dollars for the priviliege of spending their money on a 14 day vacation in the USA. Although LVCVA and others have been lobbying for reasonable visa policies, the LIbs like to kill anything that drives business while condoning illegal immigration as social goodness. Time for some common sense changes.