Air China, Hainan Airlines to compete for Las Vegas route

A leading aviation expert recently said that Las Vegas could see nonstop flights being operated to and from China within three years. Media reports said that middle-class Chinese citizens are growing prosperous and so has the increase in tourism demand, particularly to the United States. The cities of Denver and Las Vegas are two frontrunners for nonstop flights from Chinese destinations in the wake of growing travel demand.

According to media reports, the two leading Chinese carriers Air China and Hainan Airlines are competing with each other to launch nonstop flights to Las Vegas from a Chinese destination, whose name has not yet been revealed. Both the airlines would be making separate presentations shortly.

Travel experts said that Chinese tourism has become increasingly important to Southern Nevada because the Chinese market has been cultivated by the Nevada Commission of Tourism and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority for more than a decade. Nevada had also been the first state in the United States to establish a Chinese-licensed tourism office in China in 2004.

A New York marketing consultant focusing on Chinese tourism in a study said that 2.24 million travellers from China visited the United States in 2014 thus registering an increase of 24.4 percent over 2013. The Chinese travellers also spent $13.4 billion, which was 36.7 percent more spending when compared to 2013. Apart from this, Chinese arrivals in the U.S. are also expected to increase significantly to 7 million within the next five years. Various attractions that Chinese tourists are looking for in the U.S. can be found right in Las Vegas’ wheelhouse. The tourists from China are also interested in fine dining, shopping, American history, culture and the outdoors.