LOOKING IN ON: TOURISM

Monday, Jan. 15, 2007 | 7:16 a.m.

A proposed $1.1 billion water park and hotel resort for Las Vegas Boulevard South includes not only indoor-outdoor water attractions and a domed indoor ski hill for year-round snowboarding and skiing, but a "Shark Tank," too.

That's the tentative name given to former UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian's training center - a 5,000-seat multipurpose arena and events center that is planned as part of the resort.

Steve Dooner, chief executive of the Las Vegas WET project, said the Tarkanian Basketball Academy would move from its home on South Rancho Road near Palace Station into the arena, which would house basketball and volleyball practice courts in its basement.

A sports bar and grill called Tark's Shark Tank would overlook the arena floor.

The Tarkanians had very few hoops to jump through.

The current lease for the Tarkanian Basketball Academy, a nonprofit organization, runs out in 2008, so Dooner invited the academy to make the arena its new home.

Dooner, who also announced an elaborate fuel cell and microturbine power system to supply 95 percent of the resort's electrical needs, said he would announce the location of the resort within weeks, when his company closes a land deal for the last parcel needed for the resort.

He hopes to open in 2010.

General Motors' marketing gimmick, known as The Drive, has made a quick getaway from its parking lot home east of the Sahara.

GM never promised the attraction, which invited people to drive sports cars and SUVs over two separate courses for $10, would be a long-term resident. The fact that indoor portions of The Drive were housed in a tent made that clear.

A GM spokeswoman said the endeavor was a success - that corporate officials learned a lot about the Las Vegas tourist market and that it's possible that the company will return.

"We were very well received and we're happy with what we got out of the experience," said Christie Conti about the company's seven-month stay. "This was more of a test lab for us than anything."

One of the key findings: The attraction drew younger - and more - customers than the company had anticipated.

"This was a positive surprise for us," she said. "It exceeded our expectations. The 50,000 visitors that we attracted were far more than we expected."

Before the company built The Drive, it operated a traveling road show called Auto Show in Motion, which spent about four days in town and enabled participants to drive all kinds of cars - some made by GM and some made by competitors - over courses set up in parking lots at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is capitalizing on the findings of the Travel Industry Association that recently affirmed that Las Vegas is among the most gay-friendly tourist destinations.

Las Vegas is the eighth-leading gay-friendly destination in the United States, according to the study, with 35 percent of the respondents saying they considered the city to be gay-friendly.

Ranking ahead of Las Vegas in the survey were San Francisco (76 percent said it is gay-friendly); Key West, Fla. (57 percent); New York (51 percent); Fire Island, N.Y. (48 percent); Provincetown, Mass. (46 percent); Los Angeles (38 percent); and Miami and South Beach, Fla. (37 percent).

Las Vegas ranked ahead of such places as New Orleans, Boston, Chicago, San Diego, Washington, D.C., Honolulu and Philadelphia.

Maya Lake Reyes, director of diversity marketing for the LVCVA, said the organization is dedicating more resources to attract gay travelers, who spend more per visit than others.