About the Nevada Commission on Tourism

The Nevada Commission on Tourism is the department of our state government that is responsible for marketing and promoting all of Nevada’s tourism attractions, including resort hotels, entertainment, dining, shopping, outdoor adventure, ghost towns, skiing, golf, historic sites and mining towns, national and state parks, trails, cultural attractions, RVing, motorcycling, scenic drives, natural wonders and special events.

We promote Nevada worldwide, on the Internet and through representative offices and contacts in various countries. Our commission has an office in China and in 2004 was the first U.S. tourism entity to be granted a license by the Chinese government to advertise to outbound Chinese travelers. In addition to our own office in Beijing, we also have representative offices in the United Kingdom, Japan and South Korea and contacts in many other countries, such as Canada, Mexico and France.

Besides our Web site, travelnevada.com, we reach consumers, news and travel media, and tourism and travel industry representatives with print and television advertising, brochures, visitor guides, adventure guides and other printed materials. We participate in trade shows, conferences, conventions and special events such as festivals. We also conduct familiarization tours to enable industry and media people to experience Nevada’s attractions for themselves. And we produce a quarterly statistical report, Discover the Facts, which is posted on our Web site.

We work closely on promotional activities with our tourism partners at Nevada convention and visitors authorities and bureaus, chambers of commerce and a statewide network of tourism industry volunteers who represent five different geographic areas of the state called “territories.”

To assist rural Nevada communities we distribute $1.7 million a year in grants for marketing and advertising to attract visitors to these areas. Another rural grants program helps to provide public infrastructure and facilities that draw visitors.

We produce the annual Governor’s Conference on Tourism in December, which alternates between Las Vegas and Reno, and the Rural Roundup conference each spring in a different rural community.

Nevada Magazine, a lively bi-monthly publication of the Nevada Commission on Tourism, offers colorful stories and dynamic photographs that depict lifestyle trends and notable people and places in Nevada, along with guides to shows and events.

An 11-member commission chaired by the lieutenant governor guides our department’s overall policies and Director Tim Maland manages and directs the day-to-day activities and achievements. Eight of the commissioners are tourism-industry people appointed by the governor and two serve by virtue of their offices as president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and CEO of the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority. Current members are:

• Lt. Gov. Brian K. Krolicki,chair
• Ferenc Szony,vice-chair, president and CEO, The Sands Regency Casino Hotel, Reno
• Eric Bello, vice president of sales, Las Vegas Sands Corp.
• Lorraine Hunt-Bono, Las Vegas restaurant owner and former lieutenant governor
• Chuck Bowling, executive vice president of sales/marketing, MGM Grand Resorts,Las Vegas
• Cindy L. Carano, executive director of Hotel Operations and Retail, Eldorado Hotel and Casino,Reno
• Blaise Carrig, executive vice president, Vail Resorts Mountain Division and chief operation officer, Heavenly Mountain Resort at Lake Tahoe
• Bruce Dewing, president AWI Gaming,Las Vegas and president,Sturgeon's Inn Casino,Lovelock
• Ellen Oppenheim,CEO, Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority, Reno.
• Rossi Ralenkotter,president and CEO, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
• Ryan Sheltra, general manager, Bonanza Casino, Reno

The Nevada Commission on Tourism’s operating budget is funded by three-eighths of the 1% state imposed lodging tax.

Our commission meets four times a year (once each quarter) in Las Vegas or at our headquarters at 401 North Carson St. in Carson City, the state capital.