Friday, July 12, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
MESQUITE -- As the sun slowly disappeared over the desert horizon behind the nine-story pink Players Island hotel, a number of ladies poolside began squealing as their names were announced over a loudspeaker.
They had just won something at the first-anniversary luau at Players. As their names were called, they got to draw an envelope from a drum. Inside the envelope was an amount ranging from $5 to $5,000. No wonder they were laughing through every mispronunciation.
The scene was a fitting climax for Players Island's month-long observation of being in business one year.
It was June 29, 1995, that the 500-room resort 80 miles north of Las Vegas on the Arizona border first opened its doors.
The grand opening was trumpeted by Merv Griffin, father of today's most popular TV game shows, and a friendly celebrity spokesman who also happened to be one of the biggest shareholders in Players International Inc., the Atlantic City, N.J.-based holding company that operates Players Island.
Don't expect to see too much of Griffin endorsing the casino in the months ahead. He hasn't stopped believing in it -- it's just that Players no longer needs Griffin to put the resort or Mesquite on the map.
In one year, Players has emerged as a getaway resort for Las Vegans, challenging the well-established Si Redd and his Oasis property for bragging rights in the burgeoning town of 6,000.
The Oasis has made its mark as a premiere golf resort with its 18-hole Palms course straddling the state line and its Arnold Palmer-designed Oasis course hugging the rugged desert terrain just across Interstate 15 from the 1,000-acre, 738-room resort.
Now, Players is ready to challenge the Oasis' Mesquite golf monopoly with its own course, a 7,011-yard par 72 course designed by California architect Cal Olson. Visitors to Mesquite can catch a glimpse of the layout along the southeast side of the highway, tucked along the wetlands of the Virgin River just south of the first Mesquite exit. Golfers will get to test the course for the first time in October.
The course is Players' latest bid to draw additional visitors to the resort. But, as Roy Young, vice president and general manager of Players Island said, the course isn't the resort's only draw -- and company officials don't expect golfers to come to Players only to try the course administered by Duke Rohlffs and former Las Vegan Riley Stottern.
"We know that there's much more to this area than our property," said Young, a former Bally's executive in Atlantic City who got his golf resort experience at Doral Resort and Country Club in Miami.
Young expects that golfers who come to Mesquite for a getaway will spend several days playing the 54 holes in the immediate vicinity or try any of the eight golf courses in St. George, Utah, just a half-hour away.
As Players Island and Mesquite have grown in numbers and reputation, the Players International marketers have expanded their efforts to draw outside what has proved to be their most successful markets.
Young said that about half of Players Island's visitors are from Las Vegas. The other half come from Utah, with half of those coming from the southern end of the state and the other half from the northern end -- Salt Lake City, Provo and Ogden.
Earlier this year, Players made its first effort to solicit tourism from Southern California, Las Vegas' biggest market. In addition, there's a bigger push for the northern Utah market and the western slope of Colorado where the appeal for visitors to a more hospitable winter climate is particularly strong in January and February.
Many of Mesquite's newest property owners are making the city a winter refuge, Young said, with numerous northern Utahns and western Coloradans purchasing second homes in the town where the average 1,500-square-foot home costs $97,500. Northern Utah's most popular grocery-store chain, Smiths, found the demographics strong enough to build a supermarket there, and it's expected to open later this year.
While golf is an important part of the Players game plan, the resort's spa represents a strong draw to Las Vegans. Young said many Las Vegas guests come to the resort for its 16 treatment rooms, steam room and watsu pool. Experts in a variety of massages are on staff and the spa also offers body wraps, facials and mud treatments.
The resort packages the spa with special midweek rates in an effort to lure Las Vegans away from the city. When Players markets to Southern California, it will emphasize the golf, the spa and other recreational opportunities. There's hiking in the mountains around the Virgin River Valley, state and national parks in southern Utah, including Zion National Park about an hour away, and other recreational activities housed by competitors -- bowling alleys and movie theaters at the Virgin River hotel-casino and trap and skeet shooting at the Oasis' Arvada Ranch and Gun Club.
In addition, the resort pitches boating at Lake Mead, (boat ramps are as close to Mesquite as they are to Las Vegas), softball tournaments at a well-maintained municipal complex, new convention centers, a rodeo arena and, of course, gambling.
Players has a 40,000-square-foot tropical-themed casino as well as a showroom with a South Pacific flavor.
How will Players sell Southern Californians on passing though Las Vegas?
"We've noticed how much traffic there is in Las Vegas," said Young. "With all the construction going on, it can be a real mess. We'll appeal as a place to get away from that."
Players' most recent campaign prominently displays a road-sign motif, urging Las Vegans to "escape the madness."
Players also has the common casino marketing techniques in place, with slot clubs, casino tracking systems and special promotions for frequent customers. Players International owns riverboat casinos in Metropolis, Ill., on the Ohio River and in Lake Charles, La., and is scheduled to team up with Harrah's to open in Maryland Heights, Mo., in March. But the Mesquite property is the showcase.
Although Players International Vice Chairman David Fishman said the company would always listen to proposals that would open the door to entering the Las Vegas market, Mesquite is the priority for now. The company's land in Mesquite is zoned to permit a total of 2,000 rooms, so there's plenty of opportunity for growth.
The speed of development will be dependent on the success of the new golf course and broadened marketing plan.
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