Nevada To Increase Efforts To Attract More Indians Tourists

The state of Nevada is rolling out the red carpet to Indian tourists in order to boost tourism as it specifically wants more VIP gamblers from India to visit its Las Vegas casinos. Nevada has stated that it intends to intensify its marketing efforts in order to improve its popularity and persuade more Indians to visit the state.

Nevada currently has a 6.5 percent share in India’s travel market and is looking to increase that percentage in the coming years. In 2014 around 63,000 tourists from India visited Nevada, putting it within the top 10 countries sending tourists to the state. Although the growth in 2014 was 33 percent over the previous year, Nevada wants to ramp up and significantly increase the percentage of Indian tourist visits.

In a statement, Mark Hutchison, lieutenant governor of Nevada and chairman of the Nevada Division of Tourism said,

Our goal is to take India to the top five position in our list of tourists. We are ready to help Indians with everything when they visit Nevada.

Hutchison was recently in India during the 29th to 31st of Jan to attend the SATTE 2016 trade show that was held in New Delhi. The governor has indicated that there are plans to increase the strength of the marketing team in India to promote Nevada tourism. Hutchison also went on to explain the current marketing plan being deployed in India by stating that his team intends to target the family market, the Indian film industry and honeymooners. The Nevada marketing team will first look to target the cities of Delhi and Mumbai.

According to Hutchison, the state wooed China tourists in a similar manner 12 years ago and saw a huge influx of Chinese tourists that resulted in China becoming one of the top 5 countries from where tourists come to Nevada.

Based on inputs from a survey, Hutchison stated that the Indian traveller has a maximum annual budget of $5,451 for international travel, prefers to stay in mid-priced hotels and has a preference for duty free shipping. With just three cities in India allowing casinos, the Las Vegas casino industry will definitely entice VIP gamblers who want something different from the casinos in Singapore and Macau. The state of Nevada has also opened a representative office in New Delhi in October 2015 to boost its efforts in improving its popularity in India and bringing in more tourists.

Adrian Sterne

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