Miller optimistic about air service to Vegas from Europe

Monday, Oct. 19, 1998 | 12:06 p.m.

Miller returned last week from an eight-day tourism promotion mission that included stops in Munich, Frankfurt, London, Brussels and Amsterdam. It was his third trip to international markets this year.

Increasing international tourism to Las Vegas is essential to help maintain visitor volume, which was 30.5 million in 1997, and fill rooms at five new resorts opening in the next two years, Miller said.

Miller found a common misconception on all of his visits - that Las Vegas is lacking in hotel rooms and is not family-oriented.

"I think that's universally true for foreign visitors in Asia, South America and Europe," Miller said.

"While some skeptics wonder if Las Vegas has overbuilt, we travel to Europe to find tour operators complaining there aren't enough hotel rooms in Las Vegas to meet their needs. They are looking forward to having 19,000 new rooms available within the next two years."

Miller said the message has gotten out to domestic markets, but foreign countries have yet to realize how Las Vegas has changed.

Miller led a Nevada delegation of hotel, airport and tourism industry representatives that met with airline and government officials and tour operators.

In the open-skies negotiations with England, the delegation met with representatives of Virgin Atlantic Airline, 18 tour operators and government officials.

But the bilateral trade agreements that affect air service are still to be resolved. Miller said Great Britain is making other demands.

"In no other open-skies agreement have there been such demands, so many extraneous conditions," he said. "It all revolves around limiting U.S. carriers. In my opinion, that's got to be resolved. We're just too friendly with Great Britain to have a problem over open skies."

The United Kingdom is the No. 4 international market for Las Vegas with 253,000 visitors in 1997. Although there are no regularly scheduled flights from the United Kingdom, Monarch Airlines flies a weekly charter to Las Vegas from Manchester, England.

"Virgin Atlantic is eager to expand its air service, and they were excited by the prospect of flying nonstop service to Las Vegas," Miller said.

Virgin Atlantic applied for a route to Las Vegas last year and was denied in favor of British Airway's route to Denver.

In Belgium, Miller met with 12 tour operators and officials of CityBird, which inaugurated nonstop service to Las Vegas last year but is canceling the flights Oct. 24 because of lack of demand.

Belgium, together with the Netherlands and Amsterdam, sent 54,000 visitors to Las Vegas last year.

In Germany, the No. 3 overseas tourism market for Las Vegas with 257,000 visitors, the governor and his delegation met with officials of Lufthansa and Condor airlines. Condor, partly owned by Lufthansa, flies twice a week to Las Vegas from Frankfurt and Cologne.