There's a sea change going on with Nevada tourism. A certain segment is bringing in big money…bigger than other groups. Phil DeLone, president of the Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority describes the Chinese tourism market as, "Enormous. There are 300 million middle class Chinese, many of which are traveling today."
Just a few years ago, a million and a half Chinese would visit the U.S. every year (not including residents of Hong Kong). That number has ballooned to 2.6 million as of 2014, and is projected to rise to 5 million Chinese tourists by 2020. Better yet, Nevada gets a bigger share than most states: 15% of Chinese visitors to the U.S. come to Nevada. And here’s the best part: The average Chinese visitor spends $7,200 per trip, not including airfare. That’s more than double the average spent in town by other tourist. DeLone told us, "They spend four times more than our tourists from Mexico, and two times more than our tourists from Canada and the United Kingdom."
Many local businesses are going after that jackpot. You'll notice some of our casinos rolling out the red carpet for Chinese New Year come February. And some businesses are doing what they can to attract that Chinese money. At the Art Source Gallery on South Virginia, owner Christel Citko shows off an extensive lineup of Chinese art: "This is quite a unique collection to be able to offer people a piece of Yuyu Yang."
At the Art Source Gallery, about half of the art work for sale is now Chinese, including the country’s biggest exhibition, from drawings to sculptures, of famed artist Yuyu Yang. The pieces range in price from $500 to $500,000. As Christel told me, "I think this is pretty perfect for it, because we feel we're trying to bring in a lot of tourists from China."
Christel thinks there’s a lot more Reno can do to draw more tourism from China, like integrating more Chinese art into the numerous public pieces that are funded by the city. And the RSCVA thinks there's certainly room to grow with these visitors: they just OK'd a $144,000 contract with a firm to promote Reno-Tahoe to Chinese travel agents. DeLone told me, "Most Chinese, when traveling overseas, still like to use a traditional travel agent as opposed to booking online."
Back at Art Source Gallery, Christel said it best: "I think whenever we talk about tourism, it's the old adage, 'All roads lead to China.'Â I really believe that!"
