LVCVA faces new challenge in marketing Vegas

Tuesday, June 26, 2001 | 10:59 a.m.

Researchers with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority are paying as much attention to the front pages of the nation's newspapers as they are to capacity projections, occupancy rates and gaming win.

Manny Cortez, president of the LVCVA, told a group of commercial real estate executives last week that agency researchers are carefully monitoring current events that will show trends in the availability of disposable consumer income.

Watching trends in interest rates, unemployment rates and consumer confidence will enable the LVCVA to make better decisions about how to market to potential visitors to the city and where to spend advertising and public relations dollars.

Cortez told a breakfast meeting of the Las Vegas chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties that the effective marketing of visitors is critical, especially in the next three years, because of the proliferation of gambling in Southern California and a lull in the development of any "must-see" properties in Las Vegas.

The development of new Indian casinos in California represents one of the biggest challenges ever to Las Vegas' economic vitality, Cortez said.

With the approval of Proposition 1A by California voters in 2000, that state's 107 Indian tribes could potentially develop enough casinos to house anywhere from 43,000 to 113,000 slot machines. Slots are the top cash generator in most casinos and Clark County's gambling halls have about 135,000 of them, Cortez said.

Most experts acknowledge that Indian casinos have little chance of producing the atmosphere Las Vegas offers, but Cortez and his associates say the convenience of a nearby casino could lure away thousands of impulse travelers who make last-minute decisions to gamble.

"Instead of hopping in a plane and making a quick trip to Las Vegas," Cortez said, "they may jump in their cars and take a quick drive to a nearby Indian casino to play."

Cortez said it would be Las Vegas' "marginal" properties and resorts in small communities like Laughlin and Mesquite that would be hurt the most by the Indian casinos.

"Don't get me wrong, Las Vegas isn't going to dry up and become the biggest parking lot in North America," he said. "We're just going to see our mission to attract visitors is going to get a little more difficult."

Adding to Las Vegas' problems is the lull in development that will keep the city out of the public spotlight for a couple years. Cortez explained that there are a few expansions and small property openings in the next two years, but the most anticipated casino opening in Las Vegas -- Steve Wynn's makeover of the Desert Inn -- won't occur until at least 2003.

Cortez said the expansion of the Stratosphere hotel-casino will add about 1,000 rooms this year and other rooms will come on line later this year with the Palms hotel-casino (470 rooms), the Station Casinos/American Nevada Green Valley project (200 rooms) and the Tuscany Suites (1,000 rooms).

Next year, the Ritz-Carlton property at Lake Las Vegas will add 350 rooms, an expansion at the Venetian hotel-casino includes 1,100 rooms and an expansion at the Orleans will add 620. The Wynn project due in 2003 would add about 2,300 rooms, Cortez said.

To keep Las Vegas in the public eye, the LVCVA is planning a series of public relations campaigns on amenities the city offers, said Terry Jicinsky, manager of the LVCVA's research department. He said special promotions are planned for the city's spas, shopping opportunities and golf availability.

The campaigns showcasing nongaming activities are designed to differentiate Las Vegas from the Indian casinos. Also, the LVCVA's research shows that visitors are spending more leisure time in nongaming pursuits than ever before when they visit the city.

Because most of the city's visitors come from Southern California, the public relations and advertising campaigns are likely to have some connection to the current mood of Californians. For example, researchers are keeping a close eye on gasoline prices and rising energy costs to avoid sensitive issues.

Cortez said, for example, that a campaign inviting visitors to "enjoy playing in the sand" in Las Vegas didn't play well during the Gulf War when so many soldiers were deployed in the Mideast.