{"id":535,"date":"2014-05-21T14:59:24","date_gmt":"2014-05-21T17:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gmag360.com\/home\/?p=535"},"modified":"2014-05-21T15:03:11","modified_gmt":"2014-05-21T18:03:11","slug":"understanding-lgbt-travelers-insights-into-a-hot-market-segment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gmag360.com\/home\/2014\/05\/21\/understanding-lgbt-travelers-insights-into-a-hot-market-segment\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding LGBT Travelers: Insights Into a Hot Market Segment"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Judy Jacobs \u00a0<\/strong>
\npara TravelMarket Report<\/p>\n

The LGBT travel market is strong and growing stronger. Demographic changes, marriage equality and a wider acceptance of gays and lesbians all add up to increased opportunities for travel agents and suppliers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"photo:<\/a>
photo: TravelMarket Report<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhen we looked at all the studies combined, 5% of the U.S. population self-identifies as being gay or lesbian \u2013 and they\u2019re probably making up 7% to 8% of the overall travel spending in the U.S.,\u201d said David Paisley, senior research director of Community Marketing & Insights (CMI), which publishes the Annual LGBT Travel Study.<\/p>\n

Family-friendly matters<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s important for agents to understand that the LGBT market is changing, Paisley said. One key change \u2013 it\u2019s moving from a dual-income-no-kid market to the family segment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith same sex couples who have kids, it\u2019s about budget and family friendly,\u201d said Paisley.<\/p>\n

Suppliers have taken notice. One major development is that Disney has been really active, as has Orlando, in attracting LGBT family travelers, he said.<\/p>\n

Multiple markets<\/strong>
\nAgents should also remember that the LGBT market is not one monolithic market.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re talking about multiple markets that include women and African Americans,\u201d said Jeff Guaracino, chief communications and strategy officer for the Atlantic City Alliance and author of the book, Gay and Lesbian Tourism: The Essential Guide for Marketing (Routledge, 2011).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe younger demographic is very different than those 30 and above. They\u2019re highly wired. They\u2019re highly connected, and they\u2019re big word of mouth folks. So it\u2019s a bit easier to really make a splash. The boomer market responds differently to marketing techniques,\u201d said Guaracino.<\/p>\n

Supplier outreach<\/strong>
\nIn recent years, companies and destinations have increased their efforts to attract LGBT travelers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt used to be only the boutique brands like W and Kimpton that reached out to the market. Now some of the bigger groups are reaching out,\u201d said Paisley. These include Hilton and Marriott.<\/p>\n

Similarly, whereas previously only big tourism bureaus paid attention to the LGBT market, now smaller destinations, like Louisville, Ky.; Rochester, N.Y.; Laguna Beach, Calif., and Door County Wisc., are taking action to attract gay and lesbian travelers.<\/p>\n

Globally, \u201cBrazil has been hot and continues to be. Spain is very large. Madrid now hosts the largest Pride event in Europe each year,\u201d said John Tanzella, president and CEO of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association.<\/p>\n

\u201cAsia has become every popular. Thailand for the past couple of years has been aggressively marketing to the LGBT traveler,\u201d Tanzella said.<\/p>\n

Think beyond cruise<\/strong>
\nCruise lines have always been big players in this market, but this too is evolving.<\/p>\n

LGBT charters like those offered by Olivia and Atlantis have been on the scene for years. Now major cruise lines are getting into the act. Savvy agents are booking blocks of cabins and selling them as an LGBT cruise within a cruise.<\/p>\n

Motorcoach tours may be one of the last frontiers for the LGBT market. \u201cWe did a little research and found that gays and lesbians are not attracted to doing motorcoach tours because they think they won\u2019t be welcome,\u201d said Paisley.<\/p>\n

For agents, that indicates they should consider putting groups together for motorcoach tours.<\/p>\n

Keep current<\/strong>
\nAgents need to do their homework about the LGBT market, experts suggested.<\/p>\n

\u201cIdentify the product that would be of interest to [LGBT travelers]. Don\u2019t make assumptions. There\u2019s a lot of opportunity, especially in multigenerational travel and mixed group travel,\u201d said Guracino.<\/p>\n

In addition, agents should read up on states that have marriage equality, as well as those who have passed anti-gay measures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis market is very aware of where they\u2019re welcome and where they\u2019re not. And it has the economic clout to vote with their feet,\u201d said Richard Cutting-Miller, executive vice president of Resonance Consulting in Vancouver, B.C.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fuente: TravelMarket Report \u00a0::\u00a0This is part one in a series.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Judy Jacobs \u00a0 para TravelMarket Report The LGBT travel market is strong and growing stronger. Demographic changes, marriage equality and a wider acceptance of gays and lesbians all add up to increased opportunities for travel agents and suppliers.   \u201cWhen we looked at all the studies combined, 5% of the U.S. population self-identifies as …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[93,24,28,31,94,95],"class_list":["post-535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-negocios","tag-business","tag-gay","tag-lesbian","tag-lgbt","tag-negocios-2","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmag360.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmag360.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmag360.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmag360.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmag360.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmag360.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":540,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmag360.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535\/revisions\/540"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmag360.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmag360.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmag360.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmag360.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}