Award Date

3-2017

Degree Type

Professional Paper

Degree Name

Master of Science in Hotel Administration

Department

Hotel Administration

First Committee Member

Tony Henthorne

Number of Pages

33

Abstract

Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is the most important holiday in the Chinese culture and is celebrated at the beginning of the Lunar Calendar each year. Not only does the festival have significant impact in China, it is also widely celebrated in Asia as a whole. Due to the fact that about 80 percent of Las Vegas’ biggest whales are from Asia, most of them baccarat players from China and Hong Kong (Rivlin, 2007), the Chinese New Year is also one of the most influential events on the Strip. Although the games and promotions offered by the casinos are the core value that Chinese customers seek when they visit a casino, a warm, comfortable, and intimate service will enhance their gaming experience as well (Han, 2011).

Chinese New Year originated with the legend that Chinese ancestors defeated the “Nian” monster and celebrated their victory. Nowadays it is a festival for families to get together and celebrate the New Year. In China, it is mandatory for companies to give their employees at least seven-day paid leave. Some companies even award their staff up to 20 days paid leave. Therefore, it is the best time to go travel abroad. There is a popular belief that a person has their best monetary luck in the first few days of Lunar Calendar, which consequently made it a favorable time to go gambling. The casinos profit from the madness and make huge revenues on Chinese New Year. Almost all casinos who have heavy Asian clientele take advantage this time of the year to attract Asian customers by offering special events to celebrate Chinese New Year.

The literature review starts with the origin of Chinese New Year in Las Vegas and how it evolved to be such an impactful time. It will then discuss the efforts made by the casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip to attract more customers on the Chinese New Year. It will also reflect what are the potential opportunities for future Chinese New Year’s and what issues might be out of control, for example, China is restricting the amount of money a person can carry oversea per year to $50,000 – the average of some whale’s bets. Finally, this professional paper will develop a series of special events for Chinese New Year that reflects the traditional culture. The plan will be based on current trends in China, such as what would attract the high rollers and what would resonate to more millennial customers.

Keywords

Chinese New Year specials in Las Vegas; Asian clientele; High rollers

Disciplines

Business | Gaming and Casino Operations Management | Tourism and Travel

File Format

pdf

File Size

154 Kb

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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