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Clubbing
revives Las Vegas cool,
September 25, 2008 (Credit: Sydney
Morning Herald)
It's
after midnight when celebrity heiress Paris Hilton
glides into the PURE nightclub at Caesar's Palace
with her sister, Nicky, sending the dance floor throng
into a frenzy.
That
PURE remains one of the hottest nightspots on the
Las Vegas Strip
four years after it opened is a testament to both
the power of celebrity and the continuing lure of
the club scene to young, free-spending tourists who
would have passed up Las Vegas for hipper destinations
in the past.
"It
helps the casinos tap into a market they don't often
tap into, a younger crowd," David Schwartz, director
of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' Gaming Research
Center, said.
"Twenty
years ago nobody in casinos would dream of charging
somebody for their drinks. The whole idea was to get
them to gamble," Schwartz said. "Now it's,
'Well, if you don't want to gamble you can spend your
money (at the nightclub)'."
Las
Vegas casinos, which once relied on slot machines
and table games for most of their profit, now get
nearly about 60% of their revenue from things like
restaurants, shows and shopping malls.
Major
resort casinos along the Las Vegas Strip first opened
nightclubs only in the late 1990s, partly in response
to competition from Indian casinos in California.
"It
used to be you came to Vegas to catch Sinatra or Elvis
and bask in the glow their fame," Schwartz said.
"Now I think people in their 20s want to be the
star of the show. And one way of doing that is having
the whole nightclub experience. They can take pictures
of themselves and upload them to the web."
Celebrities
are gold
Beyond
attracting a younger demographic, the nightclubs have
in the last five years achieved something even more
difficult and ephemeral: transforming the image of
Las Vegas from a stodgy old gambling town into a hip
party destination, complete with celebrities.
A
mention in the gossip pages of an international superstar
partying at PURE, Tryst or LAX can be gold for the
club, drawing young women who in turn lure young men.
Though
club owners are reluctant to discuss finances, sources
close the scene say stars have been paid six-figure
appearance fees.
Noah
Tepperberg, partner and co-owner of TAO at the Venetian
and LAVO, which recently opened at the Palazzo, said
his clubs do not pay celebrities to party there but
will use other means to make sure they show up.
"We
take a different approach - we usually get people
who are looking to promote themselves. We do things
like cover flights, rooms and expenses," he said.
Despite
the weak U.S. economy, TAO, the three-year-old restaurant/nightclub/pool
party, is doing better business this summer than a
year ago, Tepperberg said.
"No
matter what, people still want to go out and drink.
They still need to go out and eat," he said.
Hilton's
appearance at PURE, wearing a pink dress with a sequined
cell phone and matching headband, electrified the
crowd one recent Friday night. Nearly everyone on
a nearby dance floor reached for their cameras as
the Hilton sisters waved from a special raised VIP
area.
The
sisters are gone within a couple hours. But at PURE,
and across the Las Vegas nightclub scene, the party
rages on.
Reuters
Getting
there:
V Australia will begin flying daily from Sydney to
Los Angeles on December 15 with return fares starting
from $2087. Las Vegas is a short internal flight or
a five-hour drive. Phone 138 287 or see http://www.vaustralia.com.au.
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