LVCVA told to promote city's new entertainment offerings

While the competitive threat of other gambling venues to Las Vegas hasn't increased over the past year, experts say Las Vegas needs to better promote its nongaming amenities, like entertainment.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board of directors was told Tuesday that in three key feeder markets there are fewer people less likely to visit Las Vegas because of other gaming venues.

The research was part of a competitive threats analysis presented to the board as part of five-year strategic plan overview.

The competitive threats research showed lower percentages of visitors less likely to visit Las Vegas from Southern California, Texas and Phoenix.

The LVCVA's analysis is based on a regional telephone survey of adults 21 and older who were not opposed to visiting a destination where gambling was one of the activities available. Researchers talked to 600 respondents each in Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Dallas and Houston.

The results were compared with responses generated in a similar 1998 survey.

The percentage of respondents less likely to visit due to other gaming venues near their cities fell from 8 percent to 6 percent in Los Angeles, 9 percent to 8 percent in San Diego, 18 percent to 12 percent in Phoenix and 13 percent to 11 percent in Dallas. The survey wasn't conducted in Houston in 1998.

Rossi Ralenkotter, vice president of marketing for the LVCVA, and Billy Vassiliadis, chief executive officer of R&R Partners, which helped coordinate the research for the LVCVA, said most casino gamblers continue to have a strong, positive regard for Las Vegas.

Nongaming improvements, such as new entertainment, restaurants and shopping, pose the biggest threats to Las Vegas' competitive edge, Vassiliadis said, and Phoenix, Dallas and Houston appear to be the markets most at risk from other gaming venues.

LVCVA researchers were most interested in how the Texas cities fared in the survey because the market is being courted by Mississippi's Gulf Coast casinos.

Travel companies working with Las Vegas are turning up the competitive heat in Dallas and Houston.

One of the nation's largest travel retailers, Mark Travel Inc., developed packages with scheduled air service with a former affiliate, Sun Country Airlines, earlier this summer. And, Las Vegas-based National Airlines plans to initiate service to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport later this month.

In Phoenix, Indian casinos are battling for market share. Harrah's Entertainment operates the Ak-Chin casino in Maricopa, a town southwest of Phoenix.

Indian casinos also are a factor in Southern California where several tribes operate casinos throughout the state.

Vassiliadis recommended a strong pre-emptive ad campaign in each of the markets, focusing on the unique entertainment and non-gaming amenities of the Las Vegas experience. Ads should also focus on the convenience of a Las Vegas trip from the Dallas and Houston markets, he said.

In other conclusions reached in the review of the five-year plan, Vassiliadis said there are unique challenges to marketing the city. While the LVCVA must work to target those who have never been to Las Vegas with ads that educate about existing properties, it also must develop a more sophisticated campaign to reach its upscale audience.

Providing a depth of information beyond gambling will help change many perceptions and overcome dated beliefs about the city, the report said. Product launches to new target markets need to tailor the information to the specific cities.

For example, the LVCVA considered intensive month-long blitzes in Portland, Ore., and Atlanta to be highly successful in delivering the Las Vegas message to potential customers.

Based on pre- and post-campaign interviews in Portland, the agency learned that the ad blitz resulted in 30 percent of 400 adults surveyed by telephone saying the ads increased their interest in visiting Las Vegas.

In Atlanta, a similar campaign said 31 percent said the ads increased their interest.

Other information from the marketing report:

* International travel to the United States during 1998 was down 2.8 percent from 1997. For Las Vegas, it was down 22 percent from the previous year. The reason for the high percentage of weakness in tourism to Las Vegas was that the countries that had the biggest declines are Las Vegas' strongest international markets.

The report said there were major declines in visits from Canada (weak dollar exchange), Japan ("Asian flu" economic problems) and Germany (weaker economy with the introduction of the Euro dollar).

* Interactive media has been identified as one of the most efficient ways to target the upscale market. According to a national telephone survey of 600 people with a household income of $70,000 or more, the luxury resort segment uses the Internet the most for travel information.

* The marketing of special events will be critical for the city, especially after the latest wave of new casino-resort openings is completed. Vassiliadis said resorts "must check their self-interests at the door" when it comes to developing events of benefit to the whole city.

SFX Live, New York, which has been contracted by the LVCVA to develop a three-year, nine-event slate of events in a contract worth $6.75 million, is expected to detail some of those activities at a fall meeting.

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