According to recent research, gay travelers travel more frequently than non-gays. 98% have taken at least one overnight trip in the last 12 months compared with 72% for non-gays. Gay travelers stay longer, an average of 15 nights in a hotel last year compared with an average of about three nights for all U.S. travelers. Gay men spent twice on average per trip compared to non-gay travelers and are more likely to be passport holders. In total, Gay men spend thousands off dollars on travel every year and in total spend Billions of dollars a year on travel. Gay men tend to travel throughout the entire year unlike non-gays. Gay men tends to travel on a whim and not just during peak seasons.
So with that in mind cities all across the country are now courting the gay travelers. Could it be that most of these cities went to a National Convention & Visitor's Bureau meeting and heard a lecture saying just that? Almost sounds too good to be true. We have been flooded with phone calls, emails and letters from different cities all across the country wanting us to write a travel column on their city.
It sounds great but.. are they really wanting gays to visit their cities or are they just wanting gay dollars in their cities? Keep in mind that "target marketing" means that ads and marketing for gay tourists appear in predominatly gay publications and on gay websites, not in mainstream publications. It is not as if the city is branding itself a "gay mecca" via all of it's advertising and promotion. One major city in particular hired a public relations firm to handle their gay website. Apparently they didn't want gays to contact their regular Convention & Visitor's Bureau directly. The only problem is that the public relations firm doesn't give the the correct email information on the city's convention and visitor's bureau's website and then after we tried to contact them, then everybody tried to blame everybody else and we still have not received anything from them. Yet they want the gay dollar but not the gays?
It is one thing when a city really wants to show their interest in attracting gays. Every State and city is different and many are extremely professional in dealing with this aspect of their travel departments. We have found the three best States dealing with this are Arizona, Florida and of course California. Many cities in the country now have their own gay travel websites and they have for some time now. Just don't go to a city who wants your gay dollar but not you!
The percentage of gay men who take cruises are much higher than non-gays. And gays tend to return to cruises again and again and not just a single cruise. Cruise ships are well aware of this fact and of course almost every cruise now has a "Friends of Dorothy" cocktail party every night on board. We have many straight friends who always attend these parties simply because they know they will have fun.
Things have changed so much for the gay traveler in recent years. We go anywhere and everywhere and we get and expect the same service and accommodations as anyone else. We hold hands walking down the sidewalk and feel free to just be ourselves everywhere.
Gay parents take their children with them everywhere. Gay parents are not going to Palm Springs, Ft. Lauderdale or Key West but rather going to cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, New York or smaller cities like Myrtle Beach, Orlando where they do "family" events with their children. Long gone are the days when gays simply went directly to the gay bar in the city that they were visiting. Now, we get on the Internet and do our research before going to a city and find out the many attractions, museums, restaurants and other things to do in that city.
The State of Vermont made millions of dollars a few years ago when same sex commitments became legal and the State of Massachusetts joined the ranks taking in more millions of dollars when same sex marriage became legal. And now California can expect to rake in millions of dollars with their recent same sex marriage law. Making money on this is really not what it should be all about, but it is.
Auto rental companies, major hotels and motels, major restaurant chains, cruise lines and airlines are realizing the full potential for gay business and most of them are extremely professional in gearing their advertising for us.
There are many terms and expressions that have been used in the past and "gay-friendly" is one of them. That term needs to be thrown into the trash can and never, Never, NEVER be used again! It is really a very derogatory term. It is like saying Jewish-friendly or Afro-American friendly or Irish-friendly or Italian-friendly. Shouldn't everyplace be friendly to everybody?
Always remember to have fun when traveling, meet new people and talk to everyone!
TRAVELING IN OUR FABULOUS WORLD is written by Donald Pile and Ray Williams, Award-winning Celebrity travel columnists who write for gay publications from Coast to Coast. You can email them at: gaytravelers@aol.com or visit their webpage at: http://gaytravelersataol.blogspot.com/.
