Tourism: Driving the Nevada Economy
The legacy of TravelNevada TravelNevada’s goal has always been to promote the state as a whole. Its mission is to enhance the economic vitality of Nevada through effectively promoting statewide tourism. “In the beginning both ends of the state (Las Vegas and Reno) had strong tourism representation,” Ferenc Szony, CEO of Truckee Gaming, said. Reno and Las Vegas already had the knowledge and resources to market themselves, which made the expansion to the rest of Nevada easier. “In its time, taking room tax dollars from a night in Las Vegas or Reno and using it to promote Elko and Battle Mountain was a stretch,” Szony said. “But, I think the concept really worked.” Leaders at the time, then Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa and former Nevada Governor Bob Miller understood that, “there is a lot more to Nevada than what we see in Las Vegas and Reno, ” Szony explained. Nevadans also realized the state had much more to offer visitors, including such destinations as Great Basin National Park and Red Rock Canyon. “A lot of the state had been overshadowed and forgotten about by a lot of travelers,” Szony explained. The Nevada Commission on Tourism got its start with the implementation of an addition to the already existing room tax, a fairly small funding mechanism to get momentum behind tourism in Nevada. The bulk of the funding comes from guest stays in Las Vegas and Reno and supports tourism going to other parts of Nevada.
– Photo courtesy TravelNevada Nevadans realize that the state has much more to offer visitors than just Reno and Las Vegas, including such destinations as Great Basin National Park.
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Visitors would take a little extra time and see the other parts of the state. “That was our original campaign: The Other Side of Nevada,” he added. As the commission moved forward, tourism offi cials recognized that Las Vegas and Reno became gateways for people to access the other side of Nevada. There were a couple easily identifi able target markets to promote. The fi rst one, they realized, was rural Nevada with its western heritage. In the beginning it was more non-Las Vegas and non-Reno portion, but by 2000, Las Vegas had experienced rapid growth as a world-known travel destination, surpassing Reno. Around the millennium and after, then Lieutenant Governor Lorraine Hunt (now Hunt-Bono) made great strides in expanding that further. “She did a fantastic job in exposing our efforts, particularly in China,” Szony explained. “She really had the vision that China was going to grow. Yes they would want to see Las Vegas, but they also have a huge interest in the western fl avor that rural Nevada presents.” At that time rural sections of Nevada naturally sought to manage the funding themselves, but the tourism commission worked to focus on the state as a whole. “The Nevada Commission on Tourism was really good at blending it all together,” Szony said. Nevada has always had so much more to offer in tourism and destinations for people to visit, the Nevada Commission on Tourism, now known as TravelNevada, was just the missing piece to tie everything together. Part of what has made this work so well is TravelNevada’s values. Offi cials strive to be insightful. Claudia Vecchio, director of TravelNevada, stressed the agency is grounded in research, innovation and collaboration. “The agency’s research-based sales and marketing programs are developed and delivered to the greatest benefi t of the end user,” Vecchio said. “TravelNevada is forward-thinking. The agency strives to incorporate new ideas and creative approaches,” she said. “TravelNevada also understands that internal and external partners are the key to its success. Seamless collaboration between all disciplines and inclusion of partner input are essential for achieving the agency’s goals.” To learn more about the impact that TravelNevada has to Nevada’s economic vitality, visit www.travelnevada.biz. By Brook Bentley
A World Within, A State Apart Nevada is a state full of interesting dichotomies. On the one hand, it’s a vast desert, full of wideopen spaces and unexplored places. At the same time, it’s Reno and Las Vegas, cosmopolitan gambling and entertainment meccas known throughout the world. It’s one of the last vestiges of the untamed Wild West. It’s where visitors will fin Burning Man, a perfectly wicked Picon Punch, the National Finals Rodeo, and the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. It’s gold mining and ghost towns, technology and transportation. Nevada truly is A World Within, A State Apart. That’s the brand message created by TravelNevada, and it was created to celebrate the diversity of the state and form an educational platform that the state’s various travel and tourism entities could build upon. Although it’s had many memorable advertising campaigns, Nevada truly lacked a collective brand for the state, says Claudia Vecchio, director of the Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, also known as TravelNevada. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitor’s Bureau hit a moonshot with the slogan “What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas.” It’s become one of the most recognized taglines ever created and was even made into a movie starring Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher. One of Reno’s best efforts is “We Love This Place” — an oldie, but it’s demonstrated its staying power. Others include “All Seasons, 1000 Reasons” from the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitor’s and “Nevada With Attitude,” the latest offering from the Elko Convention and Visitors Authority. But what Nevada truly needed was a statewide brand that tied the state together and could be used to promote Nevada as a compelling leisure and business destination to travelers, travel professionals, media and influentia figu es in key regional, domestic and international markets, says Vecchio. Five years ago, when the Nevada Commission on Tourism merged with the Department of Cultural Affairs, it was tasked with creating a truly over-arching statewide brand. Developing a statewide brand is not for the faint-of-heart, Vecchio says. Nevada has extraordinary diversity, but a fairly define perception by visitors, so it was no simple task. “The value of a brand is in its ability to both defin and broaden what this destination means
to target audiences,” she says. “We looked at the current perception of the state and its offerings for visitors, and how different generational travelers
– Photo by Sydney Martinez/TravelNevada TravelNevada created the brand “Don’t Fence Me In” to reflect the idea of reaching beyond boundaries to create a visitor experience that is unique to the individual.
viewed Nevada, from Millennials to Baby Boomers to loyal and potential visitors from core feeder markets such as San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles, as well as how other competitive states were marketing their own brands. The research informed us about how loyal and prospective visitors perceive Nevada and what they were looking for in a tourism destination.” The tagline “A World Within, A State Apart” lays a strong foundation for what Nevada truly is, who Nevadans are, and what visitors to the Silver State identify with. “What other states restrict, we allow,” Vecchio says. “This portion of our brand language ensures we create synergy between the state brand and the Las Vegas brand. The brand unites the state’s various tourism entities because each can promote their region within that tagline — Nevada is snow-capped Sierras, and it’s dry desert valleys. It’s a wonderfully diverse state rich in tourism, recreational and cultural experiences. “We are Las Vegas, we are Lake Tahoe, we are the Hoover Dam, and we are wide open country. We are unlike any other state in the union. We are Nevada,” Vecchio says. From this brand language, TravelNevada then created a brand identity for tourism: “Don’t Fence Me In.” “It’s the idea of reaching beyond boundaries and creating a visitor experience that is unique to the individual and conveys the richly textured idea that where the road ends, Nevada begins,” Vecchio says. “We built a tourism appeal unified Travel Nevada
A World Within, A State Apart...cont. with the overarching brand. These are very much the same building blocks a corporation uses. The corporation has a mission, vision, values and overarching brand, and each product has its own brand language, tagline and graphic identify.” The various tourism entities in the state can craft their own messaging that lays atop the tourism founda– Photo by Sydney Martinez/TravelNevada tion that NeThere are many unique destinations for travelers to visit in Nevada such as Gold Point Ghost Town. vada is a state apart, with a world of opportunities within. That’s important, Vecchio says, because it helps visitors and would-be residents understand exactly what Nevada can offer and does so in a way that goes beyond the state’s more well-known attributes and zeros in on its maverick personality. “It is the truly authentic experience of Nevada,” she says. “A brand is only as good as its promise — what it can actually deliver to the consumer. This brand is a truly authentic one in that people’s experiences when they are here match their expectations based on the messages we’ve communicated. That creates a wonderful position for the state and a powerful brand.” Travel Nevada tweaks its approach to brand awareness depending on the market. Since visitors from core feeder markets largely know what Nevada offers, marketing efforts for residents of Los Angeles, San Francisco or California’s Central Valley focus on creating desire and heightened awareness. The key is to remind and surprise. For marketing efforts further away from regional feeder markets, the goal is to introduce people to the incredible experiences found using Las Vegas, Reno and Elko has hub cities from which visitors can explore the surrounding areas. It’s crucial to educate potential tourists about the bigger picture, Vecchio says. TravelNevada taps various channels to spread its marketing message depending on the maturity of the market, including traditional and technology-driven public relations and social media, digital media, video and television ads. International markets present a whole new
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layer of opportunity to drive tourism to the state, Vecchio says. “We’re just beginning to see the influ of travelers from burgeoning markets such as China, Australia and Brazil added on to legacy markets such as Canada, Mexico, the U.K., Germany and Japan. We can only estimate the impact these leisure and business visitors will have on the state, but we do know we need new direct flights and a statewide industry that knows how to welcome global visitors to ensure Nevada continues to be compelling for both first-tim and seasoned global travelers.” TravelNevada has international representation in 10 countries throughout the world — Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, France, UK, China, South Korea, Australia, and its newest market, India. Sales and marketing agencies in those countries mold marketing messaging to match visitor’s travel preferences. They also attend trade shows, train travel and tour operators, create and execute promotions as well as participate in media interviews. “They really act as our everyday staff in those markets, both in a sales side and as media relations spokespersons,” Vecchio says. The results of all these marketing efforts are vast: for every dollar TravelNevada spends, it draws in $33 in revenue for the state — for paid media only. Factoring in various public relations and social media efforts, along with earned media relations, the ROI is closer to 73-to-1, Vecchio says. “That’s the value of what this agency does, and it’s important to keep these dollars for high-revenue generating programs. TravelNevada’s mission is to enhance the economic vitality of the State of Nevada and its statewide tourism industry entities. When tourism marketing campaigns are successful, we all win.” By NNBW Staff Tourism Budgets by States
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Nevada’s Gaming History A common equation in northern Nevada’s Paganetti and Nat Carasali opened the Peppermill gaming industry has been the families that helped Café in 1971. it to mature and adapt to modern expectations. “It opened strictly as a coffee shop and slowly In downtown Reno, the Caranos opened the and kind of organically grew from there,” said Billy Eldorado Casino on the wrong side of the tracks Paganetti, son of the cofounder and now general and continued expanding into a mega resort that manager of the Peppermill Resort. now encompasses and connects the Eldorado, Gaming was added in 1979 and lodging in Silver Legacy and Circus Circus. 1980. Today, the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino South of downoccupies the site of the town, the Paganettis original Peppermill Café opened the Pepand more. permill Café and Even farther transformed it into a south, David Farahi world-class resort, the arrived in Reno in 1972 Peppermill Resort Hoand purchased the tel. The Farahis began Golden Road Motel on with a small motel the south edge of town. and developed it into “I will never forget, the last signal lights the award-winning going south from downAtlantis Casino Resort Spa. town were at Plumb To the east, the AsLane,” said his son, John cuagas transformed Farahi, now the CEO a Sparks steak house of the Atlantis casino’s parent company Moninto a premier prop– Nevada State Museum Photo arch Casino & Resort, erty, John Ascuaga’s In it’s heyday, casinos such as Harrah’s and Harolds Club drew large numbers of Inc. “All around us here Nugget. people to the Biggest Little City. were pasture lands.” Management of The city spread south and the Farahis expanded. the Reno/Sparks casinos is now in the hands of “In the mid-‘80s, we started seriously looking at a new generation who remember the growth of full-gaming,” Farahi said. gaming from small casinos to resorts. In 1990, construction began on a high-rise ho “Reno back then was actually big in gaming,” tel tower and a 16,000-square-foot gaming center. said Glenn Carano, whose father Don Carano The Farahis formed Monarch Casino & Resort, opened the Eldorado in 1973. “It was the place to Inc., in 1993 and the company went public raising go as far as gaming is concerned.” enough funds for another expansion. The property “Harrah’s was the big place back then,” Carano, general manager of the Eldorado, Silver Legacy was renamed Atlantis Casino Resort. At the end of the 20th century, the gaming and Circus Circus, said. industry changed. “Harolds had a famous billboard that said “One of the significan things that’s happen“Harolds Club or go bust.” That billboard was every ing,” Farahi said, “is that in the early days most of place, not just northern Nevada.” Harolds is long gone, and Harrah’s, once family the industry was in individual family hands. Today, more publically traded companies are in charge. owned, is now a publicly traded corporation. That’s a huge change.” In Sparks, John Ascuaga opened a steak In some cases, such as Monarch and Eldohouse in 1955, and gradually built it into John Ascuaga’s Nugget Hotel/Casino. By the end of the rado, families still maintain the majority shares even in publically traded companies. 20th century, it was the driving force of the Sparks An even bigger change was the transformaeconomy and built such special events as the Best tion of gaming companies from casino-focused to in the West Nugget Rib Cookoff into national atresort-focused, driven by outside forces. tractions. During Reno’s gaming heydays, only Nevada South of downtown Reno, lifelong friends, Bill Travel Nevada
Nevada’s Gaming History...cont. “We’re seeing more revenue from nongaming than we ever had before,” Paganetti said. “It’s valuable to our gaming customers who want to gamble and it opens the door for people who don’t want to gamble to come. We’re a resort destination that has gambling.” “The industry has gone through tremen– Courtesy TravelNevada dous change,” Farahi Management of the Reno/Sparks casinos is now in the hands of a new generation who remember the growth of gaming from small casinos to resorts. They agree that the future for tourism and the economy look bright for northern Nevada. said. “It used to be cheap food and cheap and New Jersey offered legal gaming. Now 48 out rooms and a few slots. The industry has matured. of 50 states have legalized gaming. Some of the fi nest restaurants are found in casino In the 1990s, states opened the doors for limited gaming, such as riverboat casinos, and Native resort establishments.” Having passed through diffi cult times, the American tribes opened casinos nationwide. area’s gaming properties are in good shape to Residents of Nevada’s feeder markets increastake advantage of the modern economy. ingly chose gaming experiences closer to home. “It’s wonderful to see the transition we’re going Nevada casinos struggled. Some closed. through, the diversity of the economy and so many The new century proved diffi cult for John companies moving into the area,” Farahi said. Ascuaga’s Nugget. As Ascuaga looked to retire The heads of Reno’s other gaming families and hand the business to his children, the family agree. instead decided to sell the property. Global Gam“Reno is very much on a roll. Our tourism proding & Hospitality bought the Nugget in 2013, and in uct continues to get better and better,” turn sold to Marnell Gaming in February 2016. Carano said. “As a sole family owned casino, we were “I think the future looks extremely bright,” watching the gaming landscape change drastiPaganetti said. “It’s really a healthy time for Reno cally,” Ascuaga’s son Stephen Ascuaga explained during a 2015 interview with the Northern Nevada and the area. We’re seeing it get better all over Business Weekly. “Native American gaming, Internet town. So many different experiences and so many different customers. It’s exciting to have all that.” gaming and the fact most successful properties By Sally Roberts had multiple casinos outside of the market were all factors. There was also the challenge that traFY16 Division of Tourism Budget ditional fi nancing for gaming in northern Nevada was becoming very diffi cult to secure.” $3,051,687 , 17% With the change in ownership of the Nugget, $1,791,209 , 10% Stephen Ascuaga moved to the Peppermill, where he now works as corporate director of business $380,066 , 2% development. The other family-owned casinos survived by $1,665,456 , 9% diversifying. In previous decades, entertainment, $110,000 , 1% restaurants, convention service, hotel rooms and $193,000 , 1% $10,696,260 , 60% spa services were designed to draw guests to the Domestic Marketing/PR International Marketing/PR Domestic Sales gaming tables and slots. In the new millennium, International Sales Research Grants they became attractions in their own rights. Operating/Personnel
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Yahooo! Cowboy poetry provides economic boost to Nevada economy The image of the fearless, spirited horseman living a dangerous life on the open range, driving thousands of cattle hundreds of miles to market; facing thunderstorms, snow, drought, rattlesnakes, Indians and outlaws, has made the American cowboy an iconic folk hero. As award-winning Western songwriter Jack Hannah has characterized him, “Great American cowboy … big high boots, Stetson hat, and a leather vest ... with a hoss and a rope and a gun, he tamed the West!” Our high-tech devicedriven, fast-paced 21st century life is far from the reality of the way things were in the 1870s when cattle drives along the Chisholm and Loving trails brought beef as far as 1500 miles from Texas to railhead towns like Abilene and Dodge City, Kan. Cowboy culture and history are alive – File Photo Cowboy poet Waddie Mitchell, who and well today in Negrew up in Elko County, is one of Nevada’s best-known cowboy poets vada, as long as there and co-founder of the annual National are cattle and other Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko. livestock raised on sprawling ranches and rangelands and people, seeking to preserve a diminishing lifestyle, continue to fl ck to Western music and poetry gatherings, chuck wagon cook-offs and ranch rodeos, including the granddaddy of them all in Elko every winter. Established in 1985, the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering (most just call it Elko) is sponsored by the Western Folklife Center in Elko and was started by a group of folklorists and poets including Hal Cannon, founding director of the Folklife Center and Nevada cowboy humorist, storyteller and poet Waddie Mitchell. They planned it for five years and the firs audience was mostly cowboys and ranchers who, much to their surprise, braved the cold and snow to show up by the hundreds. Organizers never expected what has evolved into a jam-packed week of all things Western would have such a global impact. Today the Elko gathering is one of the largest arts organizations in the state and contributes more than $6 million to the local economy. In a history of the gathering written by Cannon
on the event’s website, he said “it’s become an annual ritual for thousands of people who value and practice the artistic traditions of the region and are concerned about the present and future of the West.” The event is also a much-anticipated big cowboy fiesta that draws some of the most exceptionally talented writers, singers, artisans and poets from across the country who come together to share rural best practices and honor the past so it’s not forgotten and celebrate the cowboy (and cowgirl) way. People who attend the 33rd gathering Jan. – File Photo 30 - Feb. 4 2017 can Richard Ellovan performs in the Genoa Town Hall during the 2011 Genoa participate in workshops Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival. with experts on rawhide braiding, spit cooking and horsehair hitching, or learn how to dance the two-step, rodeo swing and waltz, improve guitar skills or explore the nuances of digital storytelling. In addition to inviting hundreds of school children from around the region, there are special events for young buckaroos to share their creative chops with the public in a welcoming setting and a poetry and music slam for teens provides a showcase for new talent, many of who are mentored in advance by experienced poets and writers. Topping it off, it’s one of the best places to shop for the fines leather goods, boots, hats, jewelry, gifts, trappings, tools and art. Tickets run from $30 for one day to $60 for a deluxe three-day pass if purchased before Dec. 18. The Elko gathering was awarded “national” status by decree from the U.S. Senate because it’s served as a model – Courtesy National for hundreds of others Endowment of the Arts Cowboy Poet and rancher Wally McRae, who have sprung up seen in this 2013 photo, often appears across the country. at Nevada’s cowboy poetry gatherings. By Susan Ditz
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