Poll: Economy big cause of tourism slowdown

David Strow

Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2001 | 10 a.m.

Visitation to Las Vegas fell off considerably following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. But, surprisingly, terrorism fears don't appear to be the major factor in those canceling trips to Las Vegas.

That's the finding of recent research conducted by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority, presented Tuesday to the LVCVA board. In a national survey conducted in late September, the LVCVA found that 80 percent of Americans believed Las Vegas was as safe or safer than most large American cities or other tourist destinations.

Instead, the LVCVA found, more Americans are more concerned about an older issue -- a sagging economy -- than they are about fresh terrorist strikes.

Still, nearly a third of those who planned to travel to Las Vegas canceled those plans after Sept. 11. In an effort to get those travelers back -- and to boost Las Vegas' sagging tourism industry -- an LVCVA ad campaign is marketing Las Vegas as a place to get away, a refuge in an uncertain world.

"Before Sept. 11 we were the escape destination of choice," Rossi Ralenkotter, LVCVA vice president of marketing, told the LVCVA board. "Today we are the escape destination of need."

Mention of the Sept. 11 attacks is being avoided in the ads. Instead, viewers hear a new spin on an old theme -- that Las Vegas is "the only place where the rules and responsibilities of life do not exist."

"They (Americans) don't want us to talk about the 11th, about grieving and mourning," said Billy Vassiliadis, chief executive of R&R Partners, which was contracted to work on the LVCVA ad campaign. "They're starting to talk about, 'I need this (a vacation) now."'

The eight-week campaign, launched last week, is targeted at Southern California, San Francisco, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston and Chicago -- markets that account for more than half of the airline seats coming into Las Vegas, and a considerable portion of drive-in traffic to the city. The goal is to get a quick boost in visitation by aiming advertising dollars at the markets with the most potential visitors.

That strategy is bolstered by findings that Americans are looking toward travel toward markets within a two- to three-hour flight of home, LVCVA officials said.

Still, it isn't a strategy with which everyone agrees. Mike Conway, chief executive of National Airlines, has been trying to boost traffic by offering vastly reduced rates on Tuesday travel. Conway urged the LVCVA to use a similar strategy in promoting Las Vegas as a bargain -- and not to ignore East Coast markets.

"I think we've seen a point where a bargain overcomes fear," Conway said. "There's nothing in our booking trends that indicates people won't travel more than 750 miles. Philadelphia's been sold out every Tuesday since we began those fares within a matter of hours.

"I don't think people want to get away from it all. They want to be patriotic and they want to spend money."

It wasn't enough, however, to sway LVCVA officials and board members, who said the authority's resources needed to be carefully targeted, since the room taxes on which the LVCVA relies have been falling in recent weeks.

"If we had some expectation of success, we'd be out there (in the East)," said Steve Greathouse, an LVCVA board member and executive with Mandalay Resort Group. "But we're not seeing that on our side of the business right now."

Jim Gibson, mayor of Henderson, also warned that it would be dangerous for Las Vegas to move away from its strategy in recent years to focus on bringing high-spending customers to the city. Returning to the bargain strategy of yesteryear, he warned, could permanently reduce sales taxes, and make things difficult for local governments.

"I'm hesitant to move away from the tested messages (and what they) have yielded for us," Gibson said.

Despite a focus on closer markets, anecdotal evidence suggests some international travel has remained strong since Sept. 11, LVCVA officials said. Direct flights between Las Vegas and Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom have remained full, they said.

"The Brits have made it a patriotic duty to travel to America," Vassiliadis said. "In the darkness of the last few weeks, that's clearly one of the highlights."

Virgin Atlantic has, however, cut one of its three weekly round-trip flights between London and Las Vegas. Ralenkotter said he's hopeful this flight will be restored in the spring.

Nearly empty planes have forced Japan Airlines to cut one of its five Tokyo-Las Vegas flights.

"(The Japanese) are very safety conscious about travel," Ralenkotter said. "It's basically a reaction to world events."

But it's impossible to tell exactly where international travel is going right now, Ralenkotter said, as the federal government has yet to release figures on incoming flights into the United States in September.

"I can't speak for other (international) flights ... it's too early to tell," Ralenkotter said.