CARSON CITY, Nev. -- The Nevada Commission on Tourism (NCOT) will
open a state tourism office in Beijing June 11 as it tries to up
the ante and endeavors to attract more visitors from China.
The NCOT said Nevada is the only U.S. state to have earned
certification by the China National Tourism Administration to
operate a tourism office in that country.
Honggxia "Karen" Chen, who worked for more than a decade for
China Hainan Airlines and managed its South Korea office, will head
the Nevada enterprise.
The NCOT, citing China's statistics, estimated that some 250,000
Chinese visit the U.S. annually and that 90% of them head to
Nevada, with most visiting Las Vegas.
"We believe tourism between the U.S. and China will be very
significant in the future," said NCOT executive director Bruce
Bommarito, adding that 100 million to 300 million Chinese have the
money to travel abroad.