Nevada Commission on Tourism Launches '05 TV Ads, Online 'Wide Open' Adventure Guide

Nevada Commission on Tourism Launches '05 TV Ads, Online 'Wide Open' Adventure Guide

CARSON CITY, Nev., Feb. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The Nevada Commission on Tourism (NCOT) has launched the 2005 "Nevada: Wide Open" television advertising campaign and posted the latest adventure guide online, Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt announced today.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040114/NEVTOURLOGO Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030710/NEVADA )

The 30-second TV ad opens with a kayaker hoisting a bright yellow kayak to his shoulder and walking along the Las Vegas Strip at night. "Need a guide?" asks an inviting female voice. A sequence of adventure scenes show people bicycling, running, kayaking, skiing, hiking and fishing as the announcer says, "There's more to Nevada than you think. You just have to know where to look." The ad directs viewers to www.travelnevada.com/tv to order an adventure guide and visitor guide.

"The new ad shows people enjoying some of Nevada's many outdoor adventure activities in beautiful mountain areas," Hunt, NCOT chair, said. "The commercial delivers a simple message: there is much more to Nevada than the glamour and excitement of gaming and entertainment, and the adventure guide tells you where to find it."

Nevada's Online Adventure Guide, found at www.travelnevada.com, handily accesses seven adventure categories: Hiking, Biking, Climbing, Backcountry, Off-Roading, Water Sports and Air Sports. The interactive site lets visitors choose an activity and area of the state: Northern, Southern, Rural Nevada or All Areas; the level of difficulty: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Any or "Varies."

"The online guide makes finding information about Nevada's great choice of adventure activities fast and easy," Hunt said. "Now, it's possible to access the 'Wide Open' adventure guide from a hotel room, RV or virtually anywhere."

Adventure information includes a description of the activity, directions for getting there, areas to find lodging, and telephone numbers and Web sites to learn more. It replaces NCOT's first online adventure guide with the current "Wide Open" design and updated information. The adventure guide in a pocketsize book is available to order free online.

NCOT's 2005 print ads, designed for travel and adventure magazines, feature different people on the road to adventure than last year's ads but retain the cheerful blue skies and sunshine yellow design. The "Nevada: Wide Open" campaign is in its second phase, having begun in February 2004 with the release of the 107-page adventure guide and running of ads on cable television for the first time.

"This campaign features Nevada's adventure activities with an attractive, lighthearted, upbeat mood that has been extremely well received, not only in the United States but internationally," NCOT Executive Bruce Bommarito said. "We will continue to use technology that enables NCOT to track the success of each TV ad in real time, measure the results and make changes if a market doesn't meet our expectations."

The current spring season TV ads are running on eight channels: Animal Planet, Discovery, Fox News, FX, National Geographic, Speed Channel, TBS and the Travel Channel. Print ads run in travel magazines in the United States, Canada, Japan, and China, where Nevada is the only U.S. tourism entity fully licensed by the Chinese government to advertise and promote tourism in that country of nearly 1.4 billion people.

Since February 2004 when NCOT first entered the television market, the "Wide Open" campaign has generated nearly 22,000 responses through the Web site and toll-free telephone number. Over the 11 months of TV advertising last year, NCOT's Web site visits increased 12.3 percent and calls to 800-NEVADA-8 to order adventure and visitor guides increased 45.4 percent.

Visit us at www.travelnevada.com

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040114/NEVTOURLOGO http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030710/NEVADA AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/ PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Source: Nevada Commission on Tourism

CONTACT: Chris Chrystal of Nevada Commission on Tourism, +1-775-687-4322, or cchrystal@travelnevada.com

Web site: http://www.travelnevada.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: Still photos from TV ad available upon request. Call Mary Paoli, 775-323-1611.

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