By Selwyn Harris

The Pahrump Tourism and Convention Council PTCC is looking to work with the Golden Gaming Casino Group to draw more tourists to the Town of Pahrump.

Golden Gaming owns three properties in the community including the Pahrump Nugget Hotel Casino.

Assistant General Manager Jeffery Rathjen said he is looking forward to collaborating with the PTCC on the venture.

“We just want to offer our services to help them with any marketing ideas they may have, or use us for any of the resources that we may have, to be able to get information out to get people to visit Pahrump.

“We have an out-of-market campaign to let people — especially in Las Vegas — know about Pahrump,” he said.

Rathjen also said that Golden Gaming’s Lakeside property will be the venue of a special upcoming motorcycle event which will bring scores of visitors to the Pahrump Valley.

“We are also looking at trying to bring in an off-highway vehicle business with someone who may want to use the Nugget lot or somewhere in Pahrump as far as a destination place for people to come in and go off-roading.

“We have the ability to do that and the town has the ability to get those permits to make it happen. It is just another amenity for day trips to come out and visit Pahrump.

“The Lakeside event will be next month. We have a bunch of riders coming in. I think there will be about 150 riders through here for about two days. They are on a cross-country trek,” he said.

Rathjen expressed interest in becoming a member of the PTCC board, where he will regularly attend meetings and functions put on by the body.

“I have an interest because I believe I can offer something to them and they can bounce stuff off of us and have a direct link to some outside resources. Not only will it be able to help those members that are currently on the board, but also be able to bring some new stuff that would drive business to Pahrump,” he said.

PTCC member Jack Sanders said he and others on the board believe Rathjen’s presence will be a welcome addition.

Sanders is the owner of Sanders Family Winery on the south end of town.

“What he is looking to do is outside media. There is a huge push to bring as many people as possible into the community. Whether it’s a day trip or overnight stays or whatever it is. They are focusing their marketing as the tourism board does to areas outside of Pahrump.

“They were in Quartzite and the Town of Pahrump was also represented in Quartzite. They are going to use all of the things of interest for people to come into Pahrump — tourist attractions like the wineries, Front Sight Firearms Training Facility, and Spring Mountain Motorsports. They are going to be inclusive to all of that as they target to bring people in,” he said.

Sanders also addressed the concerns of those who say tourists who visit those facilities, which are on the south end of town, rarely venture into the heart of Pahrump.

“That is really misinformation because they do come in. They have to come in. If we consider what downtown is which I think would go from Homestead and Winery Road to where Home Depot is located. All of the hotels fall within that structure which is the Best Western, Saddle West, and the Pahrump Nugget. They are all within that same corridor.

“We had a group of people here last Sunday and they stayed overnight at the Nugget. They spent about three hours with us here, at Sanders Winery but they did stay at the Nugget. Their plan was to stop at a couple of casinos and then head over to Death Valley.

“I think between the wineries, the Spring Mountain facility, and Front Sight, I would say between 25 to 30 percent of the rooms are occupied by people who are just visiting these properties,” he said.

Sanders also remarked on the continued cooperation between many of the businesses in town as they work to accommodate road-weary tourists passing through town.

“If one gets overbooked, they will send them to other properties. Obviously you have to keep remembering they are competing for the biggest portion of the market they can get. They will continue to do that because it’s good healthy competition,” he said.