State tourism commission conducts class in Fallon

When many people think of Nevada tourism, they picture the neon and showrooms of Las Vegas or Reno. The state's tourism commission, however, wants to make sure other towns also come to mind - like Fallon.

Representatives from the Nevada Commission on Tourism (NCOT) are coming Tuesday to the Fallon Convention & Tourism Authority to educate the local tourism industry.

NCOT staff members will offer a free, one-day class at the convention center under the commission's educational outreach program, Nevada Tourism University, for anyone involved in the business of rural Nevada tourism.

A class on marketing and evaluating special events is 10 a.m. to noon. "Educating Your Media Priorities" will be taught from 1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. Nevada Magazine publisher Richard Moreno will teach a magazine partnership class from 2:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.

Rick Gray, director of the Fallon Convention & Tourism Authority, said the goal of the state commission's classes is simple: educate rural Nevada on how to better promote tourism.

"The goal with the tourism classes is to really educate the community throughout the state about how you can improve the communities through tourism," Gray said. "I think that's great, because a lot of rural communities could benefit from it. Subscribers to Nevada Magazine not only want to know about Reno and Vegas, but rural Nevada."

The class is open to anyone, including convention, visitors and tourism authorities and bureaus; chambers of commerce members; retail business owners, hotel, motel and RV park owners; restaurateurs; casino mangers; owners of entertainment venues, parks and guest ranches; officials at historic and cultural attractions, festivals and events; and other organizations that attract and accommodate visitors.

With a broad range of tourism-related industries targeted, Gray said it's important that the NCOT is also widening its scope to rural regions.

"They rotate throughout the state to give lots of people the opportunity to attend," Gray said. "It's kind of Fallon's turn to host classes. We hope to have a good turnout."

Preregistration is required at www.travelnevada.com/ntu.

n Burke Wasson can be contacted at bwasson@lahontanvalleynews.com.