Mr. Schuurman

Diversity Issues

Gay Marketing: How to Reach the Gay & Lesbian Travel Market

By Darrell Schuurman, Co-Founder, Canadian Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce

There are three main areas to consider when reaching the gay and lesbian travel market: Promotions, Relations, and Community Involvement.

Promotions

As with any market, the options and opportunities for ways to promote your hotel are numerous, and the selection of the right methods is important. Deciding upon web and print advertising, the production of collateral, and participating in consumer trade shows are all elements that must be done for any niche market.

If you're going to target the gay and lesbian travel market, you need to show that you're committed to them. This market, similar to any market, wants to know that the products and services being promoted are specific to them. You can achieve this by developing targeted collateral and advertising, using images and copy that speak directly to them. The gay and lesbian consumer is savvy, and knows when a company is just out to grab a piece of the 'pink dollar', and when the company is truly committed to the market.

As a side note, showing you're committed also means that you must be willing to be in the marketplace for longer than 3 weeks. I would recommend nothing less than a year, but ideally a three-year commitment. You can't expect to see results overnight.

The web provides an amazing opportunity to reach the gay and lesbian traveller. The first way is through your hotel's own website. As with any of your print materials, show the market that your hotel is truly committed to them by including specific content on your site. A great example of a hotel company that has implemented this on their consumer site is Kimpton, which offers dedicated packages and information for the gay and lesbian traveller, as well as information on Kimpton's commitment to diversity within the company.

The second way is to get listed onto other gay and lesbian travel sites. There is a wealth of sites that you can promote your hotel on, whether through banner ads or as directory listings. With the expansion of gay and lesbian internet marketing, it's extremely easy and valuable for hotels to leverage the web (after all, one third of gay and lesbian adult travellers use gay-specific websites for planning future leisure travel). HIM (see below) offers assistance in guiding the gay web and in finding the right fit for you and your hotel.

As with any market, it's important for you to speak directly with the gay and lesbian travel market. There are opportunities available to you to do this by attending various consumer shows and events. Community Marketing (see below) holds various Gay and Lesbian Travel Expos throughout the US and Canada which specifically targets the travel market. Numerous cities host events like gay and lesbian lifestyle shows and wedding shows which provide a great opportunity for you to get in front of the market that you've decided to try to capture. Take advantage of it.

To help you get a better understanding of the gay and lesbian market, there are also a variety of GLBT specific conferences that take place throughout North America. Each year, Community Marketing hosts an international gay and lesbian travel conference, which attracts suppliers from around the world to learn more about the gay and lesbian travel market and to share experiences. For hotels just entering the market, it's a valuable source of information, assists in generating new ideas, and helps to promote your hotel to other key industry partners.

Relations

One of the most effective ways of creating awareness of your hotel is to work with gay and lesbian tour operators and travel agents. Let travel agents know that your hotel is out there and that it caters to their gay clients. Work with operators to have your hotel included in their packages. Great, and simple, ways to do these are by joining organizations like IGLTA (see below) and by participating in Community Marketing's trade publications.

More and more you're starting to see local and regional DMOs targeting the gay and lesbian travel market. Philadelphia is one of the more recent cities that has aggressively entered the market. The Canadian Tourism Commission (the federal organization tasked with marketing Canada as a travel destination) has just identified the gay market as one of their niche markets. Having your DMOs entering the market provides you a great opportunity to participate in collective initiatives such as co-op advertising, promotions, and fam trips. These partnerships can help you engage in activities that you may have not been able to do on your own.

It's also interesting to note that this can also work in the reverse, where the local hotels and businesses need to encourage the DMO to enter the market and thereby support your activities. Examples of this can be seen throughout the world. Two recent examples are in Turks & Caicos, where the government expressed concern over a gay cruise that was allowed to dock, and the Cayman Islands, where a gay cruise was refused to dock. It's important to have your local or federal DMO supportive of reaching the gay market.

Community Involvement

The third way to successfully reach the market is by being active in your local gay and lesbian community. By sponsoring local activities, you are showing that your hotel is proud and committed to being a part of the gay and lesbian community. There is no shortage of events and organizations that need support and sponsorship, which can often be in either contra or cash contributions.

Getting involved with local groups, such as your regional Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, can provide a valuable source of information and assistance to you. You'll get an opportunity to network with other businesses within the gay market, and enhance your reach within the market.

A great way to ensure successful community involvement is to dedicate a set percentage of you annual marketing budget to it. Remember: the gay and lesbian community supports those that support them.

Are you ready?

So you now know the steps in how to best reach the gay and lesbian market, but are you truly ready to welcome them? In my next article, I'll talk to you about the most important element in reaching the gay and lesbian market: ensuring their experiences meet their expectations (in other words, what YOU promised them by doing all the aforementioned marketing approaches) through training and product development.

Resources

Community Marketing is a leader in gay and lesbian travel marketing, including market research, producing trade shows and educational conferences, and developing marketing campaigns. www.communitymarketing.com

Gay & Lesbian Chambers of Commerce promote, support and expand the economic opportunities of the GLBT business community. There are Chambers in various cities and regions throughout North America, and national Chambers in both the US and Canada. www.nglcc.org and www.cglcc.ca.

Hyperion Interactive Media (HIM) helps businesses connect to the gay and lesbian marketplace through media, specializing in web. www.himcorp.com

IGLTA is the world's leading travel trade association committed to growing and enhancing its members gay and lesbian tourism business through education, promotion and networking. www.iglta.org

Darrell Schuurman is co-founder of the Canadian Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and is Director of the tourism program. He is responsible for improving opportunities for gay and gay-friendly tourism-based businesses through research, market development, and promotion of Canada as a gay travel destination. Darrell has worked in the accommodation, transportation, tourism, and travel sectors of the industry. He now works with Canada's national passenger railway, VIA Rail, as Manager of Market Development. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce concentrating in Tourism from the University of Calgary. Mr. Schuurman can be contacted at 416-761-5151 or darrell@cglcc.ca Extended Bio...

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