Gay tourism
Encyclopedia
Gay tourism or LGBT tourism is a form of niche tourism
marketed to gay
, lesbian
, bisexual and transgender
(LGBT
) people. They are usually open about their sexual orientation
and gender identity
but may be more or less open when traveling; for instance they may be closeted
at home or if they have come out
, may be more discreet in areas known for violence against LGBT people.
The main components of LGBT tourism is for cities and countries wishing to attract LGBT tourists; people looking to travel to LGBT-friendly destinations; people wanting travel with other LGBT people when traveling regardless of the destination and LGBT travelers who are mainly concerned with cultural and safety issues. The slang term gaycation has come to imply a version of a vacation that includes a pronounced aspect of LGBT culture, either in the journey or destination. The LGBT tourism industry includes travel agents, tour companies, cruise lines and travel advertising and promotions companies who market these destinations to the gay community
. Coinciding with the increased visibility of LGBT people raising children in the 1990s, an increase in family-friendly LGBT tourism has emerged in the 2000s, for instance R Family Vacations
which includes activities and entertainment geared towards couples including same-sex weddings. R Family's first cruise was held aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines's Norwegian Dawn
with 1600 passengers including 600 children.
Major companies in the travel industry have become aware of the substantial money (also known as the "pink dollar" or "pink pound") generated by this marketing niche, and have made it a point to align themselves with the gay community and gay tourism campaigns. According to a 2000 Tourism Intelligence International report 10% of international tourists were gay and lesbian accounting for more than 70 million arrivals worldwide. This market segment is expected to continue to grow as a result ongoing acceptance of LGBT people and changing attitudes towards sexual and gender minorities. The gay and lesbian segment is estimated at $55 billion annual market as of 2007. Outside larger companies, LGBT tourists are offered other traditional tourism tools, such as LGBT hospitality networks of LGBT individuals who offer each other hospitality during their travels and even home swaps where people live in each others homes. Also available worldwide are social groups for resident and visiting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender expatriates and friends.
Gay travel destinations are often large cities, although not exclusively, and often coincide with the existence of gay neighborhoods
. These municipalities and their tourism bureaus often work actively to develop their reputations as places for gays to travel to, commonly by aligning themselves to local gay organisations. Travel analysts state that the existence of a core gay friendly population is often the primary catalyst for the development of a gay-friendly tourist destination.
Gay tourism might also coincide with special gay events such as annual gay pride
parades, gay neighborhood festivals and such gay community
gatherings as gay chorus festivals and concerts, gay square dance
conventions, gay sports meets such as Gay Games
, World Outgames
or EuroGames
and conferences of national and international gay organisations. Gay tourism blossoms during these peak periods.
Gay tourism practitioners spend $64 billion a year on gay travel, according to Community marketing Inc. The adult GLBT community has a total economic spending power of more than $600 billion per year, according to Wietck Combs. Philadelphia and Community marketing found that for every one dollar invested in gay tourism marketing, $153 was returned in direct economic spending in shops, hotels, restaurants and attractions. Since 2002, there has been a historic rise in gay tourism marketing. Destinations such as Philadelphia, Dallas and Ft. Lauderdale have engaged in gay tourism campaigns.
Philadelphia
was the first destination in the world to create and air a television commercial specifically geared towards practitioners of gay tourism. Philadelphia was also the first destination to commission a research study aimed at a specific destination to learn about gay travel to a specific city.
Work is underway in conjunction with Israel
's Ministry of Tourism to turn Tel Aviv
into the international tourist destination for the gay-lesbian community in order to boost business in restaurants, hotels, city attraction sites and beaches. In an effort to boost gay tourism in Tel Aviv, the Gay and Lesbian Union bid to host in Tel Aviv the 2009 Euro Pride, the largest annual gay parade in the world. The event took place instead in Zurich
.
(IGLTA) holds an annual world convention and four symposia in different tourism destinations around the world. Each symposium attracts over 100 representatives of tour agencies and travel publications that specialise in the gay and lesbian market. The association was founded in 1983, and it currently represents over 2000 members. Its headquarters are in Fort Lauderdale
, Florida
.
The "14th International Gay & Lesbian World Travel Expo" in 2006 will visit six U.S. cities. The annual Expo series is produced by Community marketing
, a gay tourism research and travel marketing firm.
With nine issues a year, Passport Magazine is currently the only gay and lesbian travel magazine still in publication in the United States. It is available internationally through iPad and Nook. Spartacus International and FunMaps® of Maplewood, New Jersey have promoted gay- and lesbian-friendly businesses since 1982 and publish free guides in print and online for over 30 resort areas and major cities throughout the United States and Canada. Each FunMap® contains detailed street maps, business directories (hotels, bars, restaurants, shops and service), community resources, curated editorial, full color display advertisements and quick response codes, all of which welcome and invite gay and lesbian patronage., One of Europe's gay and lesbian travel marketing specialists is Out Now Consulting
.
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
marketed to gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, bisexual and transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
(LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
) people. They are usually open about their sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
and gender identity
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
but may be more or less open when traveling; for instance they may be closeted
Closeted
Closeted and in the closet are metaphors used to describe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.-Background:In late 20th...
at home or if they have come out
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
, may be more discreet in areas known for violence against LGBT people.
The main components of LGBT tourism is for cities and countries wishing to attract LGBT tourists; people looking to travel to LGBT-friendly destinations; people wanting travel with other LGBT people when traveling regardless of the destination and LGBT travelers who are mainly concerned with cultural and safety issues. The slang term gaycation has come to imply a version of a vacation that includes a pronounced aspect of LGBT culture, either in the journey or destination. The LGBT tourism industry includes travel agents, tour companies, cruise lines and travel advertising and promotions companies who market these destinations to the gay community
Gay community
The gay community, or LGBT community, is a loosely defined grouping of LGBT and LGBT-supportive people, organizations and subcultures, united by a common culture and civil rights movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality...
. Coinciding with the increased visibility of LGBT people raising children in the 1990s, an increase in family-friendly LGBT tourism has emerged in the 2000s, for instance R Family Vacations
R Family Vacations
R Family Vacations is a LGBT vacation entertainment company that provides luxury cruise ship trips with a focus on inclusive activities for children and services including same-sex marriage ceremonies.-History:...
which includes activities and entertainment geared towards couples including same-sex weddings. R Family's first cruise was held aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines's Norwegian Dawn
Norwegian Dawn
Norwegian Dawn is a cruise ship that entered service in 2002 and is in operation with Norwegian Cruise Line.-History:The ship entered service at the end of 2002. She was intended to operate with Star Cruises under the name SuperStar Scorpio, but it was decided that she would be delivered to Star's...
with 1600 passengers including 600 children.
Major companies in the travel industry have become aware of the substantial money (also known as the "pink dollar" or "pink pound") generated by this marketing niche, and have made it a point to align themselves with the gay community and gay tourism campaigns. According to a 2000 Tourism Intelligence International report 10% of international tourists were gay and lesbian accounting for more than 70 million arrivals worldwide. This market segment is expected to continue to grow as a result ongoing acceptance of LGBT people and changing attitudes towards sexual and gender minorities. The gay and lesbian segment is estimated at $55 billion annual market as of 2007. Outside larger companies, LGBT tourists are offered other traditional tourism tools, such as LGBT hospitality networks of LGBT individuals who offer each other hospitality during their travels and even home swaps where people live in each others homes. Also available worldwide are social groups for resident and visiting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender expatriates and friends.
Gay travel destinations
Gay travel destinations are popular among practitioners of gay tourism because they usually have permissive or liberal attitudes towards gays, feature a prominent gay infrastructure (bars, businesses, restaurants, hotels, nightlife, entertainment, media, organisations, etc.), the opportunity to socialize with other gays, and the feeling that one can relax safely among other gay people.Gay travel destinations are often large cities, although not exclusively, and often coincide with the existence of gay neighborhoods
Gay village
A gay village is an urban geographic location with generally recognized boundaries where a large number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people live or frequent...
. These municipalities and their tourism bureaus often work actively to develop their reputations as places for gays to travel to, commonly by aligning themselves to local gay organisations. Travel analysts state that the existence of a core gay friendly population is often the primary catalyst for the development of a gay-friendly tourist destination.
Gay tourism might also coincide with special gay events such as annual gay pride
Gay pride
LGBT pride or gay pride is the concept that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity...
parades, gay neighborhood festivals and such gay community
Gay community
The gay community, or LGBT community, is a loosely defined grouping of LGBT and LGBT-supportive people, organizations and subcultures, united by a common culture and civil rights movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality...
gatherings as gay chorus festivals and concerts, gay square dance
Gay square dance
Gay square dance is square dance as it is generally danced in the Gay and Lesbian community. The first gay and lesbian square dance clubs formed in the mid-to-late 1970s in the USA...
conventions, gay sports meets such as Gay Games
Gay Games
The Gay Games is the world's largest sporting and cultural event organized by and specifically for LGBT athletes, artists, musicians, and others. It welcomes participants of every sexual orientation and every skill level...
, World Outgames
World Outgames
The World Outgames are a sporting and cultural event hosted by the gay community. With over 12,000 participants, the 1st World Outgames, held in 2006, was the largest international event to be held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada since the 1976 Summer Olympiad. These first Outgames were not as...
or EuroGames
Eurogames (LGBT sporting event)
The EuroGames are a gay and lesbian sporting event in Europe, hosted by license of the European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation and organised by one or more of the federation's member clubs....
and conferences of national and international gay organisations. Gay tourism blossoms during these peak periods.
Gay tourism practitioners spend $64 billion a year on gay travel, according to Community marketing Inc. The adult GLBT community has a total economic spending power of more than $600 billion per year, according to Wietck Combs. Philadelphia and Community marketing found that for every one dollar invested in gay tourism marketing, $153 was returned in direct economic spending in shops, hotels, restaurants and attractions. Since 2002, there has been a historic rise in gay tourism marketing. Destinations such as Philadelphia, Dallas and Ft. Lauderdale have engaged in gay tourism campaigns.
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
was the first destination in the world to create and air a television commercial specifically geared towards practitioners of gay tourism. Philadelphia was also the first destination to commission a research study aimed at a specific destination to learn about gay travel to a specific city.
Work is underway in conjunction with Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's Ministry of Tourism to turn Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
into the international tourist destination for the gay-lesbian community in order to boost business in restaurants, hotels, city attraction sites and beaches. In an effort to boost gay tourism in Tel Aviv, the Gay and Lesbian Union bid to host in Tel Aviv the 2009 Euro Pride, the largest annual gay parade in the world. The event took place instead in Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
.
Gay tourism specialists
The International Gay and Lesbian Travel AssociationInternational Gay and Lesbian Travel Association
The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association, or IGLTA, is an association of travel agents, tour operators, hotels and guest houses, airlines, destination management organizations, and other travel-related enterprises dedicated to gay and lesbian tourism...
(IGLTA) holds an annual world convention and four symposia in different tourism destinations around the world. Each symposium attracts over 100 representatives of tour agencies and travel publications that specialise in the gay and lesbian market. The association was founded in 1983, and it currently represents over 2000 members. Its headquarters are in Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
The "14th International Gay & Lesbian World Travel Expo" in 2006 will visit six U.S. cities. The annual Expo series is produced by Community marketing
Community marketing
Community marketing is a strategy to engage an audience in an active, non-intrusive prospect and customer conversation. Whereas marketing communication strategies such as advertising, promotion, PR, and sales all focus on attaining customers, Community Marketing focuses on the needs of existing...
, a gay tourism research and travel marketing firm.
With nine issues a year, Passport Magazine is currently the only gay and lesbian travel magazine still in publication in the United States. It is available internationally through iPad and Nook. Spartacus International and FunMaps® of Maplewood, New Jersey have promoted gay- and lesbian-friendly businesses since 1982 and publish free guides in print and online for over 30 resort areas and major cities throughout the United States and Canada. Each FunMap® contains detailed street maps, business directories (hotels, bars, restaurants, shops and service), community resources, curated editorial, full color display advertisements and quick response codes, all of which welcome and invite gay and lesbian patronage., One of Europe's gay and lesbian travel marketing specialists is Out Now Consulting
Out Now Consulting
Out Now Consulting is a marketing agency that provides specialised gay marketing services to large companies by researching gay lifestyles and using the information to develop strategies to target gay and lesbian consumers.- Origins :...
.
See also
- International Gay and Lesbian Travel AssociationInternational Gay and Lesbian Travel AssociationThe International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association, or IGLTA, is an association of travel agents, tour operators, hotels and guest houses, airlines, destination management organizations, and other travel-related enterprises dedicated to gay and lesbian tourism...
- LGBT tourism in BrazilLGBT tourism in BrazilLGBT tourism in Brazil is a form of niche tourism marketed to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people who come to Brazil. The city of Rio de Janeiro was elected the best LGBT destination of the world, according to the U.S. Logo channel, owned by Viacom's MTV Networks. Rio de Janeiro also was...
- LGBT tourism in South AfricaLGBT tourism in South AfricaLGBT tourism in South Africa is a form of niche tourism marketed to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people who come to South Africa. Cape Town is the most popular destination for LGBT tourists in South Africa and is regarded as the gay capital of Africa...
- LGBT marketing
- List of LGBT events
- Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi GrasSydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi GrasThe Sydney Mardi Gras is an annual LGBTQI pride parade and festival in Sydney, Australia, and draws in thousands of visitors from around Australia and overseas...
- Gay villageGay villageA gay village is an urban geographic location with generally recognized boundaries where a large number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people live or frequent...
- Meeting of the Friends of DorothyFriend of DorothyIn gay slang, a "friend of Dorothy" is a term for a gay man. The phrase dates back to at least World War II, when homosexual acts were illegal in the United States. Stating that, or asking if, someone was a "friend of Dorothy" was a euphemism used for discussing sexual orientation without others...
- San Francisco, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
- Gay naturismGay naturismGay naturism or LGBT naturism concerns a lifestyle of gay people in which nudity, especially in a communal context, is viewed as natural, positive and healthy...