New television ad campaign looks to bring tourists back to Las Vegas

April 27, 2021 12:14 PM
  • Howard Stutz, CDC Gaming Reports
April 27, 2021 12:14 PM
  • Howard Stutz, CDC Gaming Reports

Las Vegas Strip casino resorts are expanding their capacity to 80% on Saturday. Small entertainment venues have slowly been welcoming back quests. Meanwhile, the major shows, such as the Cirque du Soleil’s production, have announced a return this summer.

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Also, the $4 billion Resorts World Las Vegas – the Strip’s first all-new megaresort in more than a decade – opens on June 24.

Tourism leaders want the traveling public to know that Las Vegas is open.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority launched a new national advertising campaign Monday titled, “Vegas You.” The 30-second spot hopes to capitalize on the “restless sentiment” being felt in the country after more than a year since the COVID-19 shuttered business and halted summer vacation plans.

The first ad, titled “The Dance,” utilizes backdrops from Circa Resort, Venetian, and Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas in fast-moving scenes with an emphasis on visitors finding experiences that can only happen in Las Vegas.

“The new ‘Vegas You’ campaign reminds travelers that Las Vegas is open, ready, and excited to welcome them,” LVCVA Chief Marketing Officer Kate Wik said in a statement. “The Dance, the first ad from the new campaign, evokes the feeling of freedom that has become synonymous with the Vegas experience.”

The ad will run nationally across a combination of network and cable channels: ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, BET, ESPN, Bravo, Food Network, HGTV, and NHL on NBC Sports and NBA on TNT.

It will also run digitally as part of a streaming schedule with NBC and FOX as well as additional digital and social channels.

A second television spot will be released in late May.

The ad campaign is the lead-up to a marketing blitz expected to coincide with the July 4 holiday weekend.

Last week, the Nevada Gaming Control Board said Strip and downtown resorts can increase customer capacity from 50% to 80%. Regulators are allowing throughout the state to operate within their respective county’s COVID-19 mitigation plans.

Clark County in Southern Nevada, which includes the Las Vegas Valley, downtown Las Vegas, and Laughlin, is allowing businesses to increase capacity to 80% with social distancing measures reduced from six feet to three feet.

Clark County’s plan will allow businesses – including casinos – to increase capacity to 100% once 60% of the area’s eligible population receives at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Social distancing measures will be removed when under the same vaccine protocol.

The Gaming Control Board and Nevada Gaming Commission made the announcement through an unusual joint memorandum signed by both Gibson and Commission Chairman John Moran Jr., just prior to Easter Weekend.

Gov. Steve Sisolak announced last month he was turning the COVID-19 vaccine mitigation efforts over to county officials, but the Gaming Control Board had oversight of the casino industry.

Since that time, several Las Vegas casino operators said they would provide free COVID-19 vaccinations for employees, as part of the effort to inoculate frontline gaming workers.

In-house clinics have been launched by MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, Wynn Resort, Las Vegas Sands, Red Rock Resorts, Golden Entertainment, Boyd Gaming, and the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

The Control Board said in its order casinos will have to continue to comply with the state’s baseline mitigation measures, including the statewide mask and face-covering requirements.

Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.