Nevada opens tourism office in China

Taking advantage of the burgeoning Chinese economy, the Nevada Commission on Tourism will open an office in Beijing on June 11.

Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt will lead a delegation of tourism and hotel industry representatives to China to celebrate the grand opening and to meet with Chinese government and tourism officials and airline representatives.

"Opening the only U.S. state tourism office in China is a big step forward for Nevada because it establishes our presence in this country of 1.4 billion people, enables us to build tourism with this highly lucrative market and demonstrates to the Chinese people our state's intense interest in having them visit," Hunt said.

Nevada is the only state which has obtained certification by the China National Tourism Administration to open an office in that country. The agency normally certifies national tourism offices, not those of states or provinces. She said Nevada was able to convince officials to open a state office because the U.S. has no national tourism office.

Tourism Director Bruce Bommarito said there are as many as 300 million people in China who can afford to travel and that Nevada is a popular destination. Tourism officials in that country say more than 90 percent of the 250,000 who travel to the U.S. from China go to Nevada - primarily Las Vegas.

The nine-day trip by tourism officials will start in South Korea, where tourism commissioners and business officials will celebrate the fourth anniversary of Nevada's tourism office in Seoul.