There’s more to Las Vegas than gaming

Growing up on Hollywood movies would make you think that Las Vegas, the entertainment capital of the world, would be a place for drinking, gambling and making merry. But that’s not all the destination has to offer. The Lt Governor of Nevada, Brian Keith Krolicki, who is also Chairman of the Nevada Commission on Tourism, says, “Surely, the stereotyping of Las Vegas is that we have a tremendous hospitality industry, which is historically based on gaming. But we have more than that to offer. We have world class shows, beautiful hotels and 900 high-end stores for shopping on one street. The tourism and hospitality product is very broad and there are many things for every traveller.” Krolicki was in Delhi recently to attend SATTE 2014 (South Asia’s Leading Travel & Tourism Event) and promote Nevada as a destination for Indian tourists. “About 52 million people visit our State every year and we believe the developing market of India at this point is one of the most dominant and prolific outbound tourist producing countries in the world, next to China. We expect 50 million Indians in the next five years to travel internationally,” he said. The destination is working along with Brand USA, a public-private partnership, which promotes travel to the US, on the ground to develop the infrastructure and travel packages for Indians to travel to US, including to Nevada. Brand USA has a series of engagements lined up, including educational, travel engagement programmes, and familiarisation trips. Las Vegas is popular among Indians, Krolicki says, claiming many repeat visitors from the country. The State of Nevada expects an uptick in the number of Indian arrivals. “We think that the growth in Indian outbound tourism is over 50 per cent. For US, there were 800,000 visitors last year, we expect that to grow substantially”. The target is one million visitors by 2017. Another way for destinations to attract visitors from India, of late, has been tying up with Bollywood. In the past, South African Tourism tied up with Bollywood film Cocktail. The tourism board had launched a television commercial to coincide with the film’s release . On whether Las Vegas, too, was planning something on these lines, Krolicki said, “I think it’s a marvellous branding idea. Hollywood has relationship with us for financial reasons. We don’t have income tax. There is a business decision by Bollywood or Hollywood when they produce very expensive films. If we can incorporate not only building economic relationships, but also strategic partnerships to heighten awareness of Nevada and Las Vegas, yes, we will absolutely focus on those opportunities. But those opportunities are part of things that will naturally develop in the coming years.” Source :  http://www.samachar.com/Theres-more-to-Las-Vegas-than-gaming-ocswMuejife.html