VEGAS.com growth strong

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2002 | 11:15 a.m.

VEGAS.com, a big Internet portal serving Las Vegas tourists and locals, said today that a September study found it led the world in page views among city websites.

The study was conducted by comScore Media Metrix for VEGAS.com.

The website also reported a 300 percent increase in sales in the first half of 2002 compared to the same period of 2001.

Howard Lefkowitz, VEGAS.com president, said more than 10 million VEGAS.com pages are viewed monthly, with an average of 9.1 pages viewed per visitor. Visitors to VEGAS.com viewed more pages during the average visit than did visitors to well-known sites like Priceline and Hotels.com, VEGAS.com reported.

VEGAS.com is owned by the Greenspun family, which also owns the Las Vegas Sun.

Lasvegas.com, a competing tourism-oriented site owned by Stephens Media Group and controlled by Mandalay Resort Group and Park Place Entertainment Corp., was also part of the survey but wasn't listed among the top sites, Lefkowitz said.

The report by comScore analyzed site traffic among Las Vegas-oriented sites, national and international city sites and all of the largest national e-commerce sites for travel.

Lefkowitz cited an overall increase in hotel, air, package, tour, golf and show sales as reasons for the 300 percent increase in sales for the first half of the year. VEGAS.com did not release actual revenue figures.

"Significant sales increases show that being the 'stickiest' site has tremendous value and that the VEGAS.com commitment to content translates into cash," Lefkowitz said, adding VEGAS.com is one of the few profitable city sites in the United States.

Lefkowitz said VEGAS.com's success also assists its partners. The website is the second-highest seller of America West Airlines travel products and ranks in the top 10 for hotel sales through HRN (Hotel Reservations Network).

"This demonstrates the strength of our relationships and marketing capabilities," Lefkowitz said