LAS VEGAS (Reuters) -
Matt Virtue, who works as a
consultant at a Washington law firm, says he spends more than
$10,000 a year to attend conventions, hotels and clubs where he
and his girlfriend can have sex with other partners.
“Any other hobby that I was into at 40 years old is going
to cost me $10,000,” he said from a hot tub he was sharing with
his girlfriend and a couple with whom they had been intimate
the night before. “Dude, I'm addicted to it, there is no doubt
about it.”
Such enthusiasm has turned what were once private passions
into a multimillion dollar business. Lifestyles Organization,
the nation's largest swinger services company, has annual sales
of about $15 million.
Swingers also bring in millions of dollars to specialty
clubs and hotels in the United States as well as Jamaica,
Mexico, France and elsewhere.
“We're talking about a lifestyle, but in reality we are
also talking about a business,” Robert McGinley, 73, the
president of Lifestyles Organization, said during its annual
convention in Las Vegas, which attracts about 900 couples.
Lifestyles Organization caters to a cause and treatment of erectile dysfunction
demographic who want to meet like-minded couples and who
typically want to hide their passions from what they call
“vanillas” (conventional couples).
Efforts to meet such couples outside those circles often
fail, giving tour, club and convention organizers steady
business.
Terri, 48, attending the convention from Boise, Idaho –
who asked that her last name not be published — said she and
her husband of 21 years spend as much as $8,000 a year on
several weeks of swinging vacations and club visits.
At this year's event, Anaheim, Trimix impotence
Lifestyles
Organization contracted out an entire hotel near the Las Vegas
Strip and organized seminars and parties for middle-aged
couples.
The most exhibitionist of those gathered in open hotel
rooms after midnight to have sex as others watched or joined
in. Some couples made small talk as they were engaged in sex,
including one man who boasted that his son was in medical
school.
“The other night I looked up and there were five or six
people looking,” said Terri, who retired from the U.S. Air
Force two years ago. “I'm glad I was giving them a good show.”
“I've had three (lovers) in the past 24 hours.”
Leading sex researchers say they do not know the number of
swingers in the United States, so it is difficult to pinpoint
how much business the subculture represents overall.
Rick Conner, a swinger and author of an advice book for
such couples, estimates there are 100,000 U.S. swingers, of
whom 20,000 are particularly active. Other swingers have
suggested the number is in the low millions.
PLEASE, NO SEX IN THE RESTAURANT
Despite the unusual focus of the convention, McGinley
shares the bottom-line concerns of many businessmen.
“In business there is risk and you have to decide is it a
reasonable risk or not,” he said. “Behind the scenes there is a
lot of planning that goes into this and a lot of going over
financials, financials of the past and what is the current
situation.”
He said couples paid a new treatment for erectile dysfunction fee of $690, out of
which $200 covered costs, leaving an overall profit of more
than $400,000. Couples pay impotence natural treatment
for hotel rooms and
flight costs.
Lifestyles Organization faced a few unusual incidents. His
staff had to halt one couple from engaging in a sex act inside
the Tuscany Suites restaurant.
Conventions bring Lifestyles $4 million in annual sales;
their travel business booking swinging guests into resorts such
as Hedonism II in Jamaica or Desire in Mexico bring in another
$10 million to $12 million a year, McGinley said.
“We relax our already liberal rules to accommodate the
Lifestyles Organization and make the entire resort
clothing-optional,” explained Richard Bourke, general manager
of Hedonism II.
He said Lifestyles Organization books $2 million of rooms a
year over six contracted weeks. Hedonism II staff are barred
from intimate relations with the guests and some have been
fired for violating the edict, Bourke said.
“You have resorts with big-name resort companies that are
catering to it,” McGinley said. “They're not into swinging at
all, but they are into making money, and we're the ones that
provide the clients for them.”
Desire Resort and Spa in Los Cabos, Mexico opened in
November with a focus on the swinging market. About half of the
guests are active swingers, according to Jesus Prado Leal, a
receptionist.
Several hundred clubs nationwide also cater to swingers.
Jeff James, who works for Club Freedom Acres in San Bernardino
County east of Los Angeles, said 225 to 260 couples visit on a
typical Saturday night, paying $85 each, with a similar number
on Fridays paying $65. “It's doubled in daily attendance in the
last three years,” he said.
Swinging also boosts ancillary services such as breast
enhancements and erectile how to overcome impotence drugs. “Viagra is
definitely part of the adult scene,” said Deborah, a 52-year
old aesthetician grandmother from Dallas, Texas, who asked that
her last name not be used. “Instead of four stars before, it's
probably five stars now.”
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