Millennium turnout proves a disappointment to gamers

David Strow

Wednesday, Dec. 15, 1999 | 10:43 a.m.

From Australia to Greenwich, England, Nevada's tourism industry has run into significantly more competition than expected for New Year's Eve -- but there's still an opportunity to make inroads in the year 2000, tourism officials and executives said Tuesday.

"It's going to be tougher than we thought it would be," said Ferenc Szony, president of the Sands Regency Hotel-Casino in Reno, and a member of the Nevada Commission on Tourism. "We thought it (New Year's Eve) would've been a natural.

"We've learned a lesson. We'd better take full advantage of every opportunity, because that couple out there that makes an annual trip to the Strip ... this might be the year they decide to take advantage of what Asia has to offer."

Szony spoke Tuesday at the Governor's Conference on Travel and Tourism at the Paris Las Vegas hotel-casino. During a seminar on Nevada's 2000 plans, state officials appealed to tourism executives to pool their resources to help the state compete with the rest of the world for tourist dollars.

"It's critical for us to unify our efforts and take advantage of this millennium opportunity," said Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt.

Tourist projections for Las Vegas have plunged significantly since a year ago.

Estimates of a Strip crowd of 750,000 on Dec. 31 have been slashed to as low as 280,000. And New Year's Eve hotel rates, while still higher than normal, have been falling at resorts along the Strip since summer.

Consumer travel will indeed reach all-time highs throughout 2000, said Charlotte DeWitt, president of International Events Limited of Stockholm, Sweden.

"That's good news and bad news for the tourism industry," DeWitt said. "The bad news is never before has the competition been so great.

"The competition will not stop with New Year's Eve. Those that see New Year's Eve as a finite event miss the point."

One of the strongest competitors, DeWitt said, is the United Kingdom. The British Isles, located on the Prime Meridian, have the advantage of a time zone that's been designated for the last century as the world's "official" time.

British companies are investing heavily in the millennium tourist. A massive, temporary millennium exhibit, housed in a temporary dome in Greenwich, England, recently opened after an investment of $1.2 billion. Funded entirely by private funds, organizers hope the Millennium Dome will attract 12 million visitors.

"The Eiffel Tower in Paris could lie on its side in this dome," DeWitt said.

British tourism officials have also pumped more than $150 million into a Greenwich-based festival and $300 million into a national awards program tied to the new millennium.

"There's more money being spent in the United Kingdom on this than anywhere else in the world," DeWitt said.

Sydney, Australia, also presents strong competition, DeWitt said, since it is tying in its millennial celebrations with the 2000 Summer Olympics, scheduled to start Sept. 15. Nearby New Zealand is investing $10 million into its campaign, as officials there promote the fact that the first sunrise of 2000 will occur in their country.

A popular spot for religious pilgrims in 2000 will be Rome, which is anticipating 50 million visitors. Palestine in the Holy Land is expecting 4.5 million to visit, DeWitt said.

In the United States, New York is expected to hang onto its traditional top spot as a New Year's Eve destination, with 500,000 visitors expected to pack Times Square, DeWitt said.

The only nation that appears to be bucking the pack is Switzerland, host of Expo 2001.

"The legal turning (of the millennium) isn't until 2000 turns to 2001," DeWitt said. "As official timekeepers of the world, they will start in 2001, and not a day earlier."

The core element behind all of these competing markets, DeWitt said, is the existence of a central tourism theme. Nevada tourism officials appealed to local executives to get behind the state's theme -- "NV2000."

"We need participation from as many of you as possible," Szony said. "We need to get it done, and we need to get it done early. We need to stand up to the competition that's being thrown at us."

For its part, the Nevada Commission on Tourism is launching a broad media campaign to promote the NV2000 campaign, Szony said. Elements of this campaign include a national advertising campaign, coverage in "Nevada" magazine, a special visitor's guide, a public relations campaign and stepped-up trade show efforts.

Currently, the campaign is working with hotels and airports to market NV2000 merchandise to visitors. It's also throwing $1.1 million behind efforts to promote rural Nevada in 2000, an often-overlooked market.

Another element of the marketing campaign that's taking increasing precedence is the campaign's website, located at www.nevada2000.com. Since the website was launched, the site has gone from 3,500 visitors a month to 12,400 visitors a month, Szony said.

Getting behind the Internet promotion is important, Szony said, because travelers are starting to rely heavily on it to plan their travel. In 1996, less than 19 percent of travelers used the Internet, while today, 53 percent do, Szony said. In 1996, 14 percent of frequent travelers used the Internet to make travel plans; today, that number is up to 69 percent, he said.

"If you're not on the Internet now, you need to get on it right away, because you're way behind," Szony said.

One thing that will assist the online effort is the registration of millennial events on the NV2000 database, Szony said. These events will be listed on the website and included in Nevada magazine at no charge.

"It is really crucial that all of the properties come together to make this work," Szony said. "We all make the most money when we're all busy."

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