Las Vegas tourism officials concerned Trump order may affect visitation

Local and national tourism experts are concerned that President Trump’s executive order on immigration could have broader implications on international tourism, a key element of Las Vegas’ tourism growth strategy.

“The tonality, the harshness, the belligerence and the confrontation on Twitter isn’t going to serve us well for international visitation and, I dare say, international business relationships,” said Billy Vassiliadis, CEO and principal of Las Vegas-based R&R Partners.

Vassiliadis, whose company is the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s contracted advertising consultant, stressed that his comments were not directed to the politics or specific policy of Trump’s executive order, but on the perception and reaction it has produced.

“For domestic and international travel, the idea of stability and certainty is pretty important,” Vassiliadis said in a telephone interview Monday. “I would add to that the constant ‘America’s not safe’ and ‘We need to do this to make America safe’ produces significant concern in the minds of people who otherwise wouldn’t have huge concerns.”

Trump on Friday issued the executive order that severely restricts travel to the United States by immigrants from seven countries, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Yemen, on any visa category.

There are no nonstop flights from any of those countries to McCarran International Airport, but Las Vegas was among several airports nationwide that saw weekend protests over the abrupt policy change.

While the focus of Trump’s order was on immigration, the broad implication was that any type of travel would be restricted.

“The British and the French are all experiencing security concerns, but their leaders aren’t highlighting them, “Vassiliadis said. “So for international travel, I’m very concerned.”

Vassiliadis did say he understood the motivation behind the order.

“Of course, safety and security is very important and I’ll give the administration the benefit of the doubt that that’s what they’re trying to accomplish,” Vassiliadis said.

‘MOST CRUCIAL’

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which has a goal of attracting 30 percent of its visitors from foreign countries by the early 2020s, issued a statement that made no direct reference to Trump’s order.

“Tourism is the most crucial industry for the Southern Nevada economy and we must protect it,” the LVCVA said in an emailed statement. “The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority supports efforts to ensure safe and secure travel; however, that is not mutually exclusive of being open and welcoming.

“We will continue to support programs like Visa Waiver, Global Entry and Customs Preclearance, which provide the proper vetting of individuals wishing to travel to the United States. We will continue to aggressively market Las Vegas to the world and welcome business and leisure visitors to our destination,” the statement said.

Virginia Valentine, president of the Nevada Resort Association, said the uncertainty of travel has some of her association’s resort members worried.

“I think the concern right now is more the uncertainty and the unpredictability,” Valentine said. “We now have this unknown and you have people not sure if they can travel. Nobody wants to try to get on a plane and not get where they’re going.”

‘KEEPING LAS VEGAS SAFER’

Former Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, R-Las Vegas, said Trump’s move would help, not hurt, tourism in Southern Nevada.

“I love Las Vegas and I love our tourists,” said Fiore, a candidate for the Las Vegas City Council.

“For them (U.S. Customs and Border Protection authorities) to detain maybe a hundred people for a couple of hours, it’s not going to touch Las Vegas. Trust me when I tell you people are not going to stop coming to Las Vegas because our president is keeping Las Vegas safer. Thank you, President Trump, for doing so. We finally have a man in the White House that has some guts.”

The head of the U.S. Travel Association acknowledged that safety in travel is the ultimate goal, but he added that he hopes Trump’s administration will work quickly.

“We recognize the new administration’s desire to review visa issuance protocols with respect to countries that have a heightened risk of terrorist activity or weak law enforcement cooperation with our government,” said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the Washington-based association that includes the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority as a key member.

“We urge the administration to conduct this review quickly and trust that it will yield an even more secure travel security system that protects international travelers and welcomes them into our country to conduct business and to enjoy our cities, attractions, national parks and landmarks.”

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.