Rural tourism executives to gather

The world's fascination with America's Old West continues to pay dividends for tourism in rural Nevada, and executives of the industry will focus on attracting international visitors during a conference next month.

The annual Rural Roundup tourism conference sponsored by the Nevada Commission on Tourism will include a one-day session on welcoming international visitors. The conference runs April 2-4 in Elko.

International tourists already account for a surprising share of the visitors to rural areas of Nevada, says Chris Chrystal, a spokeswoman for the Commission on Tourism.

"A lot of visitors from other countries are fascinated by rural Nevada because of the Old West," she says. "They don't have any landscapes such as that in their own countries."

The rural tourism conference, the only event of its type in Nevada each year, also will focus on effective marketing programs online and elsewhere.

David Bobzien of the advertising agency Fuze in Sparks will detail development of a user-friendly Web site, while Bruce Rettig, president of Charter Advertising/Design Inc. in South Lake Tahoe will discuss development of effective brands.

Other sessions will look at subjects such as development heritage tourism programs and the ways that state agencies can assist with tourism development.