"I want to thank you Nevada because this is, without question, the travel state." was how Roger Dow, president and CEO of U.S. Travel Association (USTA) ended his speech on the first day of the Nevada Governor's Global Tourism Summit being held at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas this week. Dow was one of several speakers at the event, hosted by Travel Nevada and while for many, Vegas is the big draw, be sure your clients don't have NV envy if they hear they didn't get a chance to experience all that the silver state has to offer beyond Vegas as well.
And that's just what I did when I had the opportunity to experience a side of Nevada I'd never seen before, outside of all those great things like gambling, entertainment and food, that make Las Vegas such an ideal destination. Because for the first time in my 30-year travel career, and some 18-20 visits to Las Vegas, I ventured beyond the strip on a three-day FAM with Travel Nevada. And after experiencing it and sharing my trip on social media, I can tell that many of my family and friends have NV envy, after seeing the experiences I had.
Since Vegas has moved back to its "What happens here…" tagline, where does that leave those that want a Vegas experience but either want something beyond the strip or want to bring the kids? The good news is that there's so much to do beyond the strip, either a short drive from Vegas or even elsewhere in the state.
Travel Nevada hosted media from around the world on a three-day Fam trip that included everything from zip lining and ATVs (All Terrain Vehicles) to smaller towns and Grand Canyon aerial tours, and even a foodie tour of Vegas. And many of the operators will work with travel agents, paying as much as 20 per cent commission when you book on behalf of your clients.
All of the activities were done as day trips from our Las Vegas home base, The Flamingo Las Vegas. The oldest continuously operating hotel on the Vegas strip, the Flamingo is undergoing a massive renovation project that will see all of its 3,460 rooms upgraded and updated in the next couple of years, with new fixtures, furniture, carpeting and a complete bathroom remodel with glass showers, white accents and marble countertops.
Our first activity was a tour of Shelby America, maker of the iconic Shelby Cobra and Nevada's only auto manufacturer. Shelby, whose manufacturing facility is literally less than 10 minutes from the Vegas strip, is now open to car buffs who have the opportunity to shop for Shelby memorabilia, and then visit the Shelby Heritage Center museum, with over 30 beautiful Shelby vehicles on display, including the classic Cobra and incredible vehicles with shining aluminum finishes. You'll then go into the Mod shop where Shelby's are being made by hand and maybe even experience driving a Shelby.
The next day, a short 30-45 minute drive from Vegas, we arrived at Flightlinez Bootleg Canyon, in Boulder City, where we ziplined while being both guided and entertained by one of the funniest groups of guides I've ever ziplined with. Okay, I've only ziplined once before but these guys - Saxon, Tyrus, Vincent, Tyler and Tore, along with drivers Maui and Rambo- were hilarious and kept us entertained from the time we started our training, until we left a couple of hours later.
Flightlinez is a Canadian company based in Vancouver, which operated a zip line experience in Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth Park last summer in addition to their Boulder City Bootleg Canyon experience. In Bootleg Canyon, Flightlinez offers four runs, one over 2,000 feet, and can handle groups large and small. Starting with a hilarious bus ride up a very bumpy hill to the summit, we had a chance to take some pics of Vegas in the distance before taking a moderate hike up to the first platform. It wasn't a bad hike, but be sure you're wearing comfortable closed-toe shoes and be prepared for some slightly uneven terrain. Because of our group size, 22 in total, the tour took a little longer than a smaller group would, but with four cables per run, we still moved pretty quickly while having plenty of time between runs to take in the views from the mountain, including Boulder City, Lake Mead, and the Red Mountains themselves.
Flightlinez encourages travel agents to sell their tour and pays commission based on the number of guests per reservation by basically offering a net rate and allowing the agent to mark up the price. The company offers two payment options; they collect in full and issue a cheque after the guests have completed the tour; or they collect the net rate from the agent 48 hours prior to the scheduled tour.
From Zip Lining, we enjoyed a tasty lunch at Forge Social House, a premium event space in Boulder City, before heading to the Boulder City airport for an airplane tour of the Grand Canyon in one of Grand Canyon Scenic Airlines' modified Dehavilland Twin Otter aircraft.
The aircraft, known as the Vistaliner, has been modified to reduce sound, as well as increase the size of the windows, offering expansive views of the ground below as we flew over Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, and the West Rim of the Grand Canyon. The tour we took, the Visionary Tour, is a 70 minute airplane tour (four hours in total roundtrip door-to-door from your Vegas hotel) with spectacular views of Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and the Grand Canyon's west rim, with rates starting at $229 US per person. And although spectacular, it's just a taste of the beauty and majesty of the Grand Canyon since the plane remains above the canyon and doesn't drop down between the canyon walls themselves.
But a helicopter tour, which I also had the opportunity to experience a few days later, with sister company Grand Canyon Helicopters, offers more maneuverability, allowing both sides of the helicopter to view sights like Hoover Dam. It also allows the helicopter to drop down between the canyon walls and into the canyon itself where we landed for a champagne picnic lunch and approximately 20 minutes to wander around and take in the beauty from within the Canyon. Priced at $519 US per person, the tour I took, called King of Canyons, was approximately three and one half hours door-to-door from your hotel, which included a VIP stretch limousine transfer, and included approximately one and one half hours flying time. Helicopter tours are also available from Boulder City airport with Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters.
All three brands offer a 10 per cent commission direct to travel agents, payable approximately two weeks after the travel date, when they call or email to book on behalf of their clients. An affiliate programme is also available, which automates the booking and payment process, with commission paid the following month.
In addition, agent can earn commission for booking Grand Canyon's airplane and Helicopter tours through several major wholesalers in Canada including Air Canada Vacations and Gogo/Flight Centre, and many of the major global wholesalers.
Travel agent rates, to allow agents to experience the tours at a heavily reduced rate, are also available.
Later that night, we had the privilege to attend the Vegas Strong Benefit Concert at T-Mobile Arena, featuring live performances from the likes of Carrot Top, Boyz II Men, Jay Leno, David Copperfield, Penn & Teller, Cirque du Soleil, and Blue Man Group, and featuring Las Vegas' own home town bands, The Killers and Imagine Dragons. The concert raised funds for victims of the shooting tragedy on October 1, 2017 and really showed that Las Vegas is more than just
"To the world, I would say Vegas is a great example of showing resilience." said Dan Reynolds, lead singer of multi-award winning Imagine Dragons. "There's a great feeling of love and support in the air. Since I've been home from tour there's just been this somber feeling of courage. Vegas has come together… communities come together and buoy each other up. And that is the Vegas I know and love."
And that's the sense that one got from the concert. That Vegas is a strong community that will bounce back from this terrible tragedy stronger and even more resilient than before.
There are plenty of places to visit within a short drive of Vegas, including Boulder City, the only city in Nevada that does not allow gambling and which we had visited earlier. Laughlin, Nevada is a one and one half to two hour drive from Las Vegas, and was founded by Don Laughlin, for whom the city is named. In 1964, Laughlin had just sold his casino in Vegas, 101 Club, when he flew over the area, saw the beauty and the potential and purchased a shuttered eight-room motel and decided to reopen it as the Riverside Resort. Today, Don Laughlin still greets guests at the Riverside Resort, which has grown to 1,450 rooms and includes a casino, Classic Automobile museum, and a 34-lane 10-pin bowling alley.
And although the Riverside and numerous other resorts, including Aquarius, Edgewater, Colorado Belle, Harrah's and Tropicana, all have casinos, Laughlin has a more laid-back vibe and is really more about outdoor activities focused on the Colorado River, which divides Laughlin and the state of Nevada from Bullhead City in Arizona. Although it's hottest time of the year, with temperatures on par with Phoenix, Arizona, summer is Laughlin's busiest season, with families driving in from places like California to partake in activities on the river like boating and jet skiing, as well as hiking, and visiting Davis Dam.
On the last day of our Fam, it was back to outdoor activities, with a short drive to the tiny town of Goodsprings, Nevada for a thrilling ATV tour of the desert with Vegas Off Road Tours. The tour we took, called the Bronze Tour or "Desert Drive", includes shuttle transportation from your hotel to and from the Pioneer Saloon, a cool little restaurant and bar from where the tours depart and takes four hours in total. Total drive time in the ATV in the desert is one and one half hours.
Pricing at Vegas Off Road Tours is per vehicle, and the tours are in one of their two-seater Polaris RZR, Arctic Cat or Wildcat X ATVs, so kids of around eight years old and up are welcome as long as they can be seated comfortably with their feet flat on the floor of the vehicle. And be forewarned, you get dusty…really, really dusty. The tour was a blast though and it's amazing how the desert can look so dull and lifeless from the highway, but in actuality is quite beautiful when you're out in the middle of it. And although several bands of wild horses are in the area, alas, we didn't see them on our tour. But there was plenty of 'evidence' of them on the ground, if you get my drift.
Once we got back to the hotel, we took a much needed shower and got ready for our final official activity on the Fam, a foodie tour of Las Vegas provided by Lip Smacking Foodie Tours.
Started by the company's president, Don Contursi, who accompanied us on our tour along with lead tour guide Ray Estrada, Lip Smacking Foodie Tours provides culinary walking tours on either the Las Vegas strip or downtown Las Vegas, visiting up to five of Vegas' best restaurants with several dishes at each stop. Restaurants for the tour are not divulged in advance but the tours visit several restaurants and will Lip Smacking Foodie Tours refuses to visit any restaurant deemed mediocre.
On our tour, called Savors of the Strip, we visited four restaurants, located in the vicinity of the Aria and Cosmopolitan hotels, experiencing French, Greek and Italian cuisine and a sumptuous dessert to end the tour. At each restaurant, we were promptly seated at our table and without ordering, meals began to appear at the table, with a short explanation of each dish.
For our tour, we visited Bardot Brasserie, offering classic French cuisine with a twist, where we enjoyed Escargot in Puff pastry, Duck Wings A L'Orange, and a Chicken French Dip sandwich. Then it was off to Milos, recognized as one of the finest Mediterranean restaurants in the world, where, after passing their fresh fish market, we were served grilled Octopus, crispy grilled vegetables (crispy eggplant and zucchini with Yogurt dip) and Greek salad (Horiatiki). The next stop was Scarpetta, named for the practice of using bread to soak up the last of the sauce in a pot, in essence, savouring a meal to its last taste. At this Italian spot, our tour was served creamy polenta, duck and foie gras ravioli, spaghetti, and a short rib agnolotti. Needless to say, at this point in the tour, I was starting to waddle. But there was still dessert to be had and as we walked over to Cucina - Wolfgang Puck's Italian restaurant, we stopped in at Retrospecs & Co., an eyewear shop that also houses its owns museum where we had the chance to try on glasses once owned and/or worn by the likes of Al Pacino, Zsa Zsa Gabor and John Lennon, to name a few. And then, upon arriving at Cucina, we were served pistachio mousse, tiramisu, zeppole (a delicious sugar doughnut) and chocolate cremoso with praline crunch.
An optional beverage package, which includes a signature drink at each restaurant, can also be added to tours, which start at $125 US per person are commissionable to travel agents at 12 per cent.
"A great travel advisor provides their client with memorable experiences -and ours just happens to be commissionable." said Donald Contursi, president of Lip Smacking Foodie Tours. "With most travellers unaware they can experience up to five award-winning restaurants in one night, it's a win for both the customer and the travel agent".
The night before leaving Las Vegas, I headed over to see Cirque du Soleil's KÀ at the MGM Grand Hotel. My second time seeing the show, I find it to be different from other Cirque shows in what I can only describe as athletic and aggressive (not in a bad way), as you're dazzled by the acrobatics in this incredible show. Cirque du Soleil has partnered with Leisure Connect, which opened in 2010 in order to offer travel agents a better source for tickets. All tickets and services are commissionable at 10 per cent, with increased commission members of Ensemble Travel, Signature Travel, Travel Leaders and Virtuoso, due to preferred supplier contracts.
So in closing, Travel Nevada opened my eyes to a whole new world beyond Las Vegas. The organisations motto is Don't Fence Me In, which conveys the uniqueness of the state, its residents' independent spirit, and the variety of experiences and opportunities Nevada provides. And it's meant to highlight that the state has so much more to offer, whether travellers visit other cities like Reno, Lake Tahoe or Carson City, smaller towns like Tonopah or Laughlin, or make Vegas their home base and do day trips from there. So don't leave your clients with NV envy and be sure they see all that the silver state has to offer.
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