07.11.18 News Las Vegas ‘welcomes all’
“expects to see some suffering from the Canadian and Mexican markets in particular, due to political ramifications”.
Hayes asserted that Las Vegas is a “welcoming destination whoever you are” and “we are constantly reinventing ourselves”, adding guests who visit twice or even three times a year will continually find new experiences.
The Monte Carlo hotel has been rebranded to Park MGM and is undergoing refurbishment
Abigail Healy
Las Vegas (NA150) plans to push its universally welcoming attitude and new products as an antidote to the negative effects of the USA’s “politically charged situation”. Heidi Hayes, director of communications at Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, said: “We had 42 million international visitors in 2017, with Canada, Mexico
TRAVEL FORWARD UPDATE
‘Companies must cater to evolving needs’
Andrew Doherty
At the Travel Forward conference, co-located at WTM London, a panel discussion focused on “meeting the demands and expectations of tomorrow’s traveller”.
Speaking at the session were Hari Nair, global senior vice- president, Expedia Group Media Solution; Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive, Advantage Travel Partnership; and Tom Valentine, co-founder of Secret Escapes. Nair said Expedia was using “access to a million data points” to market to millennials.
“They travel often and want to go further afield. They want to have unique experiences and go off the beaten track,” he added. “They are also impatient – we’ve seen a 50% drop in conversions if a webpage takes more than two
seconds to load.”
He explained that companies must cater to evolving needs without being a “nuisance” as he referenced an Expedia project in conjunction with the Go Hawaii tourism board. The project, which involved the use of facial recognition technology through the user’s laptop camera, tracked viewer’s reactions when watching a destination video produced by the tourism board. “At the end of the video, the client would be presented with a unique itinerary based on their reactions. As a result, conversion rates for Hawaii were 150% up.”
Nair also advised companies to embrace change in order to thrive. “The fact that this is the first year that Travel Forward was held at WTM London says a lot,” he said. “Know your target market well – in doing so you will find things a lot less difficult.”
MONKEY BUSINESS: A “family of gorillas” was spotted at the Uganda stand (AF640) at WTM London on Monday to highlight new additions to the country’s Bwindi Impenetrable national park. A band of gorillas named Katwe was introduced to the protected forest by the Uganda Wildlife Authority earlier this year, while another gorilla family named Christmas was introduced in Nkuringo. Between them, the two families have led to an extra 16 gorilla-visitor permits being issued per day.
07.11.2018 17
and the UK our top-performing markets. However, this year visitation is steady or perhaps a little behind. “There is a lot going on politically and the USA doesn’t feel so welcoming from a tourism perspective, but I think Las Vegas gets a hall pass as it’s such a unique destination.” She added the authority would focus on marketing to destinations with direct flights such as the UK, Germany and Beijing, as it
The millennial market is another key focus for the authority, but Hayes pointed out that it was also looking to “Gen Z” (those born in 1995 or later).
“They are our next wave of customers. We market to the over- 21s, but we are trying to determine their likings and preferences now.” One such development is the Esports Arena Las Vegas at the Luxor resort, where visitors can watch professional gamers in action. For fans of live sports, the new 65,000-seat Las Vegas Stadium, slated to open in 2019/20, is set to become the home of NFL team Oakland Raiders and will also host concerts and events.
In hotel development, the Monte Carlo has rebranded to Park MGM and is undergoing a complete renovation. As well as the Park MGM-branded resort, it features the standalone NoMad Las Vegas, which opened on October 12. Elsewhere, the first phase of Resorts World Las Vegas from Malaysian-based Genting Group is due to open next year.
It will feature 3,500 hotel rooms, 22 luxury villas, a retail village, more than 30 restaurants and bars, an aquarium, a live entertainment venue and an observation deck with views of the Strip.
Set for completion in 2020, the integrated resort will then add three new hotel towers, a large-scale attraction, a theatre, a convention centre, waterpark, movie theatre and a bowling alley.
Hayes also highlighted key draws of next year’s entertainment roster including a Lady Gaga residency from December 2018, Britney Spears’ return to the city in February 2019 and Aerosmith’s residency from May.
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