Nevada marketing campaign that focuses on adventures draws praise
Nevada Tourism Commission members got their first look at the state's newest tourism marketing campaign Monday, applauding a new approach that focuses more on experiencing the adventures visitors can have in the state than beautiful landscapes of Lake Tahoe or the Valley of Fire.
The television ad campaign debuted on Monday on stations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Phoenix and Boise, Idaho — markets with a track record of feeding tourists to the Silver State.
Smaller ad buys have been made for stations in the Las Vegas and Reno markets.
The ad's tagline encourages visitors "to go home with more stories than souvenirs" and the ads use a soundtrack of the Las Vegas rock band The Killers with its rendition of the Cole Porter's "Don't Fence Me In."
The initial ads were shot at the Pioneer Saloon in Goodsprings and in Genoa in Northern Nevada.
Commissioners had seen early renditions and rough cuts of the campaign, but Monday was the first opportunity to see the finished product.
The goal of the campaign is to entice viewers to visit the TravelNevada website to see more videos of characters depicted in the initial television ads.
The fall-winter kickoff runs through February and is costing $1.7 million while the related summer campaign that will run through August will cost $1.4 million. With other print ads, digital and social media components, the entire campaign is costing $4.4 million, but similar campaigns routinely return $33 to the state for every dollar spent.
Directed primarily at millennial adventure seekers, the ads introduce several characters that can be followed when they reach the website. The follow-up videos depict travelers enjoying mountain biking, rock climbing, fly fishing, skiing and riding all-terrain vehicles.
The fall-winter kickoff runs through February and is costing $1.7 million while the related summer campaign that will run through August will cost $1.4 million. With other print ads, digital and social media components, the entire campaign is costing $4.4 million.
Monday's commission meeting was a kickoff for the Governor's Global Tourism Summit, a revamped version of the annual Governor's Conference on Tourism. About 300 tourism industry professionals are meeting over two days at the Hilton Lake Las Vegas in what is the state's largest tourism gathering.
While the commission's new marketing program focuses on luring travelers from the region, the broad theme of the two-day summit that runs Tuesday and Wednesday is international in scope. Panels are scheduled on international tourism and many of the state's international tourism representatives will make presentations on how to market to specific countries. Representatives from Brazil, India, Mexico, South Korea, Costa Rica and China are scheduled to give presentations. There also are experts on business etiquette and foreign protocol.
Gov. Brian Sandoval is expected to address the summit on Tuesday afternoon.
Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter. Contact reporter Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.
