But Commissioner Tom Collins, who sat on the LVCVA board then, recalls that the board was swayed by the argument that “ ‘Hey, if we do this, the online agencies will just push other destinations instead of Vegas.’ I mean, if Orlando and Denver and Vegas all have rooms at $100 and this Internet company can sell them for $80 and pay lower taxes in other states, then why would they sell here?” Because people still want to come to Las Vegas, answered travel researcher Henry Harteveldt, vice president and principal analyst for Forrester Research. "Las Vegas is a very, very distinct market when it comes to tourism and hospitality ... I assure you that the (online travel agencies), their owners and investors will be pushing these guys to continue to market themselves and Las Vegas because that’s where people want to go ... If people want to go to Las Vegas, I assure you Expedia Inc., Travelocity, Orbitz and priceline.com will all find ways to promote Las Vegas to their customers." These days, however, with the economy in such bad shape and gambling and tourism revenue so far down, even Forbuss isn’t certain that going after the online travel sites is such a good idea. Full Article at Las Vegas Sun