Las Vegas promoters are gearing up for an $11 million media blitz aimed at getting people to give in to impulsive desires to visit the city.

The campaign was scheduled to start later in the year, but in the face of falling visitation numbers and a drop in convention business, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority moved the start date up. Commercials are set to begin filming in March.

The new push centers around the slogan, “Vegas, right now.”

“Every magazine and every newspaper and every television station has covered the economy,” said Terry Jicinsky, senior vice president of marketing for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. “This campaign will address some of that.”

Jim Gibson, mayor of Henderson and also a LVCVA board member, said the group needs to be proactive in promoting Las Vegas. It is a lesson learned following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“We didn’t just wait for the market to turn around,” Gibson said. “We went out and created the perception ourselves.”

    The new campaign will tie into another $20 million campaign called the Vegas Experts, run by Vegas.com.

    “Now we’re reinforcing our local expertise, contacts and ability to create an experience that only the true Vegas Experts can deliver,” Vegas.com president Howard Lefkowitz said.

    The ads will target near-by markets including Phoenix and cities in southern California, as well as bigger markets like Boston and Dallas.

By Casino Connection Staff