Ensuring long-term success,seeking new cooperation opportunities

CHRIS MEYER， CEM， CMP Vice President of Global Business Sales Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority

Chris Meyer is vice president of global business sales for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority （LVCVA）， the destination marketing organization for Las Vegas and Southern Nevada， and its mission centers on attracting visitors by promoting the destination as the world’s most desirable destination for leisure and business travel. He joined the LVCVA in 2000 as manager of convention center sales， moved to director of convention center sales and was then promoted to his current position in 2007.

In his role， Mr. Meyer is responsible for directing the worldwide activities of the LVCVA’s convention sales and convention center sales teams. He also oversees the activities of the World Trade Center （WTC） Las Vegas. Mr. Meyer is a member of several professional organizations， including Meeting Professionals International， Destination Marketing Association International and the Las Vegas Hospitality Association. He is the past chairman of International Association of Exhibitions and Events （IAEE）.

A three-step formula to ensure high customer satisfaction

For Las Vegas， 2016 was a record year， welcoming 42.9 million visitors in total. It hosted 22，300 meetings throughout the year and there were 6.3 million convention visitors. In December 2016， Hainan Airlines launched a three-times per week direct flight service from Beijing to Las Vegas， connecting Chinese visitors to Las Vegas， and it proved to be very popular.

Chris Meyer， Vice President of Global Business Sales， Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority （LVCVA）， whose mission centers on attracting visitors by promoting the destination as the world’s most desirable destination for leisure and business travel， thinks that the global exhibition industry will continue to enjoy a higher growth rate than the general economy in 2017. So far， bookings for major exhibitions in Las Vegas indicate that 2017 will again be a very prosperous year like in 2016.

Even in today’s fast developing exhibition industry， Las Vegas is a leading exhibition and MICE destination. What lies behind the continuous growth？ Meyer shares that LVCVA has a very simple formula which proves to be very successful for Las Vegas MICE industry： number one， provide good customer service； number two， listen to the customers and understand what their needs are； number three， meet customers expectations.

He cited an example. “One time， our customers wanted to find an off-site venue hotel for 300 people to have dinner， so we made a monthly update of all the hotels available in Las Vegas for free. This is the information that the clients normally could not easily collect on their own but could be very helpful. This is an example of how we deliver our service promise to customers.”

Feature services to improve events experience

As a truly global destination， Las Vegas receives business traveler from about 150 countries all over the world. Each year， LVCVA does a third-party study on about 400 exhibitions across the US， among which over 100 are held in Las Vegas. Viewed from the registration data， China now ranks number two in terms of visitation， only after Canada， and Meyer expects China’s position to further go up.

“We attach great importance to the Chinese market. A lot of our properties participate in the China Ready program initiated by LVCVA. Furthermore， apart from Mandarin-speaking staff in the Authority， many Chinese students majored in tourism and convention in Las Vegas find jobs in our properties after graduation to assist our Chinese customers.” Meyer stated.

Today， LVCVA and more and more local hotels have launched WeChat for the convenience of Chinese clients. For example， Chinese exhibitors on Las Vegas trade shows now can pay for exhibition services using WeChat account directly in RMB， as did in a recent national hardware show. All these is for improving Chinese visitors’ experience.

Exploring more cooperation opportunities with China

In January 2017， Meyer spoke at CEFCO to share marketing experience of MICE destinations. He said LVCVA is very willing to support the development of the Chinese exhibition industry and he himself was also particularly interested in the overseas exhibitions forum at this meeting.

Currently， LVCVA has representative offices in Beijing and Shanghai， and is eager to understand more of the One Belt One Road initiative and explore more cooperation opportunities with China in the MICE industry.

“We are investing heavily in the Chinese market， as we find that among all our target markets， China has the greatest growth potential for visitation to Las Vegas. That also explains why we are very motivated to provide the best possible experience for Chinese visitors.” He also hopes that through first-hand sharing， Las Vegas will become the MICE destination of more and more Chinese visitors.