Gay Friendly Travel Destinations

More cities in the United States are seeking the lucrative gay tourism dollar. According to the Travel Industry Association, the United States has a list of the top 21 most friendly "gay-friendly" travel destinations. Gay and lesbian tourism is becoming increasingly lucrative, grossing a huge $64 billion last year. Reasons behind this increase in revenue from gay and lesbian tourism are due to increased marketing efforts by cities as well as an increased tolerance of how diverse American culture is. Let's face it, gay or straight, no one wants to go some place where they're not comfortable and not welcome, let alone spend money to do so. Bill Gerhman of Altus Group, an advertising agency based in Philadelphia believes that "more and more gay travelers want and are able to go to a destination and enjoy the same things everyone else enjoys and feel more welcome." A city can be known for having some of the greatest attractions, but if you're intolerant of different lifestyles, tourism isn't going to be as good as it could be.

The Travel Industry Association did a comprehensive study in the form of a poll that surveyed individuals who identified themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (GLBT). In this survey the participants were asked to identify places from a list of 75 metropolitan areas in the United States and Canada where they would like to travel. There were three important factors in determining whether a certain area would be a place they'd want to visit. These factors were whether or not a place was safe and free from intimidation of individuals who identified themselves as GLBT, whether the area was culturally welcoming and known to support diversity and GLBT civil rights, and lastly, word of mouth. In almost half of those surveyed, friendliness was them most important factor. Travelers want to be able to hold their partner's hand or kiss and hug in public without being subjected to harrassment, bashing, or physical violence. One sure way for a vacation to be ruined is to have to deal with negativity in any form, especially when it's disrespectful to you and your loved one.

So how does a city become a gay friendly travel destination? In addition to marketing, culture and history are also important roles. San Francisco, which tops the list of gay friendly cities in the United States, attracts tons of gay visitors. There is much gay media promoting this travel destination as well as cultural activites and various sports that attract gay visitors. The travel industry in many U.S cities are reaching out to GLBT tourists, hoping to attract more visitors. One of these cities is Dallas. Dallas has the sixth largest GLBT population in the country and is also the home of the largest GLBT church in the country. The city has an openly gay member on the city council, the elected sheriff is a lesbian, and Oak Lawn is nationally recognized as a gay neighborhood there. Dallas is optimistic about positioning itself as a gay-friendly destination; it even launched a website www.glbtdallas.com/index2.php which is specifically targeted at the GLBT community.

Cities are hosting gay themed conventions and even creating travel publications for the GLBT community which lists the hotels that are considered to be gay-friendly. The Travel Alternatives Group runs a national database at www.tagapproved.com/tag-accommodations.cfm, which identifies accommodations based on desire for gay travel revenues, employment policies, services and support returned to the gay community."

One city that has aggressively been pursuing to establish itself as a GLBT friendly city is Pittsburgh. The city publishes a 20 page brochure entitled "Pittsburgh's City Navigaytor" and the city's tourism information bureau says the city is prepared to show increased political and budget support. The Navigaytor has been well received since it was started two years ago. The brochure includes ads from operas, museums, zoos, aquarium, and several other places that may be of interest to tourist. Even with all of this proaction towards the GLBT community, Pittsburgh still doesn't make the list of the top U.S. gay-friendly cities.

With cities vowing to get the attention of GLBT travelers, one main thing to remember is to create an atmosphere where GLBT tourist will feel safe and welcomed. I'm sure there will be some discrimination no matter where you go but one thing people need to realize is that people are people regardless of race, gender, lifestyle or sexual orientation. It would be wonderful if we could erase the hate and discrimination and every U.S. city could be considered gay-friendly, but until then cities will continue to fight for gay tourist.

The list of the Top U.S. Gay-Friendly Cities are as follows:

1. San Francisco

2. Key West

3. New York City

4. Fire Island, N.Y.

5. Provincetown, Mass.

6. Los Angeles

7. Miami/South Beach

8. Las Vegas

9. New Orleans

10. Palm Springs/ Palm Desert

11. Boston

12. Chicago

13. Fort Lauderdale/ Wilton Manors

14. San Diego

15. Seattle/ Bellevue

16. Washington, D.C.

17. Honolulu

18. Palm Beach/ West Palm Beach/ Boca Raton

19. Portland, Ore.

20. Philadelphia

21. Tie between Providence, R.I. and Rehoboth Beach, Del.

Sources:
The Chicago Sun-Times
(Scripps Howard News Service)