Swimsuit competitions bring publicity, players to resorts

David Strow

Monday, July 2, 2001 | 11:06 a.m.

What can take a high-roller's attention away from the tables for a few hours?

Attractive young women clad in bikinis, perhaps?

Yet another big-name national swimsuit competition came into town Friday. Hooters of America Inc., the Atlanta-based franchiser of the Hooters restaurant chain, brought 84 Hooters waitresses from across the country to the Rio hotel-casino to compete in its "Miss Hooters International Swimsuit Contest." Hooters of America conducts the competition in conjunction with its annual convention of franchisees.

It is the contest's fifth year, but the first in Las Vegas. Previous contests were in Hawaii and the Bahamas.

"By unanimous vote, our franchisees told us they wanted to come to Las Vegas," said Mike McNeil, vice president of marketing for Hooters of America. "This is obviously a very glamorous place to hold what we believe is a glamorous event. We think the appeal the Rio has to a younger demographic fits very well with both the age of the contestants and our customers."

Such contests were sporadic in nature in the past in Las Vegas. But they've been rising in popularity over the last several years, said Anthony Curtis, publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor newsletter.

"These giant casino-sponsored, corporate-type things were never really a big thing until the last few years," Curtis said.

The Ms. Hawaiian Tropic International Pageant kicked off the trend toward big-name swimsuit contests in Las Vegas, Curtis said. The national and international finals were scheduled in 1999 and 2000 at the Tropicana, but moved to Mandalay Bay this year. Regional competitions for the contest are being held in at least eight casinos across the country, including MotorCity in Detroit, the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City and the Horseshoe Casino in Bossier City, La.

Other events have followed. The Rio organizes its own annual swimsuit competition -- the "Ms. Rio" contest, which awards a $75,000 top prize and a one-year modeling contract to the winner. And last month, Caesars Palace played host to the World Swimsuit Model Search Finals, a "two-day pageant spectacular (featuring) top swimsuit models from around the globe competing for fame, modeling contracts and thousands of dollars in prizes."

There's a reason such events are growing popular with casinos, said Rio spokeswoman Tyri Squyres.

"You do whatever it takes, within legal bounds, to keep players happy and keep them coming," Squyres said.

In the Rio's case, events like Ms. Rio and Ms. Hooters are used as a magnet to keep premium players on property. Both events are invitation-only, and the Rio hands out tickets to its premium customers. A few especially valued customers are offered slots on the judge's panel.

"It's really a way for the high-end customer to differentiate our property from another property, at least for that weekend," Squyres said. "(The market) is so ultracompetitive, and there's such a small community of those players. You need that product differentiation ability, particularly at that level. The swimsuit competitions are just a natural for that demographic."

Mandalay Bay also sees a similar benefit from the Hawaiian Tropic contests, said spokesman Gordon Absher.

"Some like boxing, some like opera, some like events like this ... different strokes for different folks," Absher said. "It brings in players who might want to participate in an event like this."

But it also means lots of publicity for the property. The Hawaiian Tropic national contest, held at the Mandalay Bay earlier this year, was filmed, and will be shown in syndication throughout the summer. Shows from "Extra" to NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" sent crews to the contest to do features on it.

"It gives Mandalay Bay an opportunity to let millions of viewers see our property, and hopefully make them want to visit," Absher said.

The Rio should see similar benefits -- the Hooters contest, for example, will be offered on pay-per-view cable, McNeil said. MTV and the E! Network are also doing spots on the contest, he said.

"It does provide some very good exposure opportunities for the Rio on a nationwide basis," McNeil said.

It used to be that casinos didn't like the competition that such events posed to gambling, Curtis said. But that seems to be changing, as "Sin City" makes a comeback in Las Vegas.

"There's way too much competition to worry about that (distracting gamblers) anymore," Curtis said. "The prime consideration now is to make sure they're not distracted by someone else's product. If you can keep them here, you don't worry about it, the gambling will take care of itself.

"More skin, more women, more prurience."