Gay, grey and travelling.

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- Lesbian and gay tourism. Gay travel market. Targeted lesbian and gay travel marketing.

TOPICS: Gay travel, lesbian travel, lesbian and gay travel market, lesbian and gay travel marketing, gay advertising, travel, older gays and lesbians. Companies targeting the gay grey market. Gay tourism. Lesbian tourism.

In honour of the end of summer, I am taking a two week vacation, so it seemed appropriate to discuss the often neglected, but very financially significant market segment of older gay and lesbian travellers.

There was a great article in the San Francisco Chronicle recently about the fact that Fort Lauderdale in the US state of Florida has identified the segment that we at Out Now call 'Grey Gays' as a profitable niche within a niche. You should be able to click through direct to this excellent recent news article from US papers about the growing importance of the older gay and lesbian travel market by clicking on this gay market article here or, if that link does not bring you joy, then you can search SFGate.com using their site search tool for the following keywords: "Fort Lauderdale Gay Travel".

For years, the travel industry's idea of gay travellers seemed to see the market as being ALL sex-crazed, male, young, fit gay twenty-somethings. This is a stereotype that may well be true for some, but, as is abundantly clear from our market research..., is definitely NOT the case for many, many lesbians and gay men.

In Florida, South Beach Miami was / is often seen as the centre of that stereotype, and now Fort Lauderdale seems to be doing a good job at identifying a different, and probably more profitable niche, amongst the older gay and lesbian travel market.

Also, you may want to have a look at how the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau handle their gay-targeted web site for gay marketing, which is not yet perfect, but which is certainly getting there. You may get something from visiting their site - even if it is nothing more than to make yourself feel depressed at how lovely their Live Beachcam looks!