Interactive television may boost LV tourism

Friday, May 5, 2000 | 11:04 a.m.

The proposed Vegas Television Network and the concept of interactive television are a perfect match.

That's why Larry Namer, president and chief executive officer of Comspan Communications Inc. and the founder of E! Entertainment Television Inc., is anxious to launch VTV, a television network that would be all Las Vegas all the time.

Namer, whose Santa Monica, Calif.-based consulting firm specializing in television network development was retained by the Greenspun Corp. last year to develop VTV, was scheduled to deliver an update on the network at today's National Tourism Week luncheon.

Namer said he and his partner, Tony Oleshansky, a Hollywood manager and producer, hope to have the network on the air by the second quarter of 2001.

Danny Greenspun, a Las Vegas Sun vice president, said Namer and Oleshansky are guiding the project while the Greenspun Corp. is serving as a Las Vegas-based resource.

In an interview prior to today's presentation, Namer said VTV has tremendous potential to jump-start the interactive television industry.

"Imagine being able to preview what kind of show is happening at the Bellagio on your television and being able to use your TV to decide on buying a ticket and checking out the room charts to decide where you're going to stay," Namer said. "Las Vegas lends itself very well to interactivity. And the great part is that there's already a revenue stream behind it."

Namer said his company's research indicates there's already a tremendous amount of interest for a Las Vegas-centered television network -- especially overseas.

"There's lots of interest internationally," Namer said. "It may not be a 24-hour thing, but several hours a day certainly."

Asia is a huge potential market for the network, Namer said, with contacts in Japan and China showing interest.

Namer said because Las Vegas already is the top destination booked online, the interactivity of VTV has been pre-tested.

Namer said he has no facilities established yet in Las Vegas, but "the nice thing about partnering with the Greenspuns is they have these resources already."

The Greenspun family owns American Nevada Corp., which built much of Green Valley, and it also operates the Las Vegas Sun and the Greenspun Media Group.

Tourism Week, an annual celebration of the industry that drives visitors to the city, included several lunches, presentations and observances. Events were sponsored by several companies and were coordinated by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Tourism is Southern Nevada's largest industry with more than 33.8 million visitors traveling to the city in 1999. Visitors had a $28.6 billion impact on the region last year and more than 25 percent of the population is directly employed by the hospitality, gaming and recreation industries.

A luncheon Thursday sponsored by the Las Vegas Chapter of the American Marketing Association gave local chamber of commerce marketers an opportunity to explain the specific goals for their communities.

While Mike Varney, vice president of marketing for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, said his organization -- the fourth largest chamber in the country -- doesn't emphasize tourism because of the existence of the LVCVA, the chamber still receives 100,000 visitor inquiries a year.

"We consider ourselves the champions of small business, in fact, that's our slogan, 'the voice of business,' " Varney said.

Varney said because the large companies have such a huge presence in tourism already, the chamber finds its role is to offer programs and represent the views of business in the community.

Meanwhile, the chambers of North Las Vegas and Henderson find themselves on the doorsteps of attractions that tourists are finding their ways to and are positioning themselves to take advantage.

Andrea Primo, marketing manager for the Henderson Visitors Bureau, said Henderson doesn't have the advantage of a number of large hotels to position its convention center for big meetings, but the properties that have been built in the last few years -- Sunset Station, the Reserve and the Hyatt Regency at Lake Las Vegas -- have become stopping places for people who visit Lake Mead and Hoover Dam.

Primo said Henderson's 138,000-square-foot convention center is focusing more on local single-day meetings and shows and sessions for government groups and small organizations. She said golf packages and attractions like the Ethel M Chocolate factory also attract visitors to the state's second-largest city.

North Las Vegas is relying on the growing popularity of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, said Colleen Stauffer, vice president of the North Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce. She said the development of land north of the city, being turned over to local control by the Bureau of Land Management, provides another opportunity for the city.

Recent marketing efforts, Stauffer said, have been placed on changing the perception some people have of North Las Vegas being the center of violent crime and gang activity. She said a community outreach television show called "North Las Vegas Now" puts a positive spin on activities in the city.