FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Release Date: November 30, 2015
Kill Date: December 19, 2015
Contact: Robert Morris, 702.630-5173;
702.610-5035
Las
Vegas Visits Impact Philippine Agri-Tourism
Las Vegas – With 32 million credited to the Las Vegas tourism count through
September, no one thinks about the agricultural side of the gaming industry. No
one thinks of Las Vegas as a place to grow food. They do in the Philippines.
Their reasoning: visitors have to eat and the restaurant scene is changing
rapidly.
Three government officials representing the
Philippine Department of Agriculture recently took note of changes they predict
will impact agri-tourism in the Philippines. Most notable is how government
involvement can foster or hinder development of this new industry.
The restaurant industry has marketed
itself differently in Las Vegas during the past decade paralleling consumer
demand. These changes are trending internationally as well. Themed restaurants
have emerged which embrace the locally grown food trend, eating healthy and
growth of farmers markets.
Philippine government
representatives visited several producers of local food in Las Vegas. Here they
learned about enticements and barriers producers experienced working with local
government agencies to bring locally grown food to area restaurants frequented
by tourists.
In a recently published Restaurant
Business Online survey, 15 of the top 100 restaurants in gross food and
beverage sales are located in Las Vegas. The number one restaurant grossed $47
million in 2014. Tourists visiting Las Vegas spent over 60% of their tourism
dollars on food and drink. This equated to about 70% of their gambling budget.
The Philippines is poised to become
the next most attractive gambling hub in Asia given its proximity to a range of
key tourism markets. It attracts over 4
million visitors each year with a 40% increase in tourism over the past three
years and expected to climb dramatically. Dramatic increases are attributed to
increased gaming restrictions in Macau, the world’s largest gaming destination,
and the shrinking Chinese economy.
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Robert Morris is an Emeritus
Professor with the University of Nevada, Reno and retired Horticulture
Specialist with Nevada Cooperative Extension. He is local and international
horticulture consultant who contributes weekly with his own byline to the Las
Vegas Review Journal. Visit www.xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com
If you would like more information
about this topic or schedule an interview with Bob please call him at (702)
630-5173 or email him at Extremehort@aol.com
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