Nevada renewing effort to attract Chinese tourists

CARSON CITY — Nevada is renewing its efforts to attract Chinese tourists after shutting down a Beijing tourism office it operated for a decade.

The state Board of Examiners approved a $396,000, two-year contract Tuesday with East West Marketing Corp. The company has offices in China and Los Angeles, and will develop and maintain a Nevada tourism website in Chinese, handle social media and bring Chinese journalists to tour Nevada.

Nevada had a tourism office in China since 2004, but the board voted last year to close it down and pay out severance costs to its three employees.

State tourism director Claudia Vecchio said at the time that Chinese and Nevadan officials had differences of opinion and wanted to restructure to reflect an evolving Chinese tourism landscape.