HotmailMiss Universe ticket sales slow, forcing deals
Want to watch beautiful women in the Bahamas? Here’s your chance!
 | Beauty queens from around the globe rehearsed a dance number Wednesday in preparation for Sunday's 2009 Miss Universe Competition in Nassau, Bahamas. |
Brennan Linsley / AP |
 | Slideshow |
 | Miss Universe 2009 Venezuela's Stefania Fernandez, 18, makes history, beating 82 competitors to win Miss Universe for her country's second consecutive victory. more photos |
| Slideshow |
 | more photos |
| Slideshow |
 | Beauty queen scandals They may be beautiful, but the competition can get ugly. From blackmail to sabotage, check out the underside of the pageant circuit. more photos |
 |
 TODAY N.J. father tells of custody heartbreak Dec. 18: David Goldman and U.S. Rep. Chris Smith talk to TODAY’s Matt Lauer from Brazil about the next steps after Brazil’s top court reversed its decision to allow Goldman to bring his son, Sean, home. |
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Ticket sales for the 2009 Miss Universe pageant have been slow, prompting a special promotion just days before the final event begins, a tourism official said Wednesday.
A package that offers four tickets for the price of three applies only to the televised final, said Janet Johnson, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Tourism.
"We're starting to see interest build as the pageant approaches, which is typical here in the Bahamas," she said. "We're very last minute."
Bahamas officials hoped this year's Miss Universe pageant would turn around an ugly year for tourism when the global economic crisis forced hotels to lay off hundreds of workers. The Atlantis dismissed about 800 employees this season, while The Four Seasons Resort Great Exuma announced in May that it would close.
More than 3,000 seats initially went on sale for the pageant at the Atlantis hotel. Officials with Kerzner International, which owns the Atlantis, declined to say how many tickets had been bought and how sales compared to previous years.
|
Prices range from $175 to $750 for the finals on Sunday night in Nassau, where 15 beauty queens will vie for the crown. NBC will provide live coverage of the pageant, featuring musical talents Flo Rida, Heidi Montag, David Guetta and Kelly Rowland.
Johnson said the cost of some tickets were out of reach for the average Bahamian.
"We're not accustomed to paying those sorts of prices," she said. "This is the first time we're having something like this in the Bahamas. The cost of the ticket may be skewed on the high side."
- Discuss Story On Newsvine
-
Rate Story:
View popularLowHigh - Instant Message
MORE FROM BEAUTY PAGEANTS |
 Beauty pageants Section Front |
| Add Beauty pageants headlines to your news reader: |
Sponsored links
Resource guide