Swingers are growth business for U.S. firms By Adam Tanner
Mon Aug 20, 11:23 AM ET
Two couples who met and swapped partners the night before at the
annual convention of Lifestyles, the largest U.S. swingers organization,
are pictured together at a Las Vegas Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, August 11,
2007. (Adam Tanner/Reuters) 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 middle-class 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 Terri, 48, attending the convention from Boise, Idaho -- who asked that her last name not be published -- said she and her husband of 21 years spend as much as $8,000 a year on several weeks of swinging vacations and club visits.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, California-based 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."
Read more:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070820/od_nm/usa_swingers_dc *** - Well, I'm sure that this is one business that won't experience a downturn from the stock market. I've been looking for a good place to put my retirement money. Don't want to get caught in a soft market, you know. And I think that I can relate to the people involved in this business. There just like my neighbors next door.... {looks at picture again} Wait, hell I think that IS my neighbor from next door!!!
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
