TOPICS: US. Gay marketing. 2007. US lesbian and gay tourism market. Gay marketing in US. Gay and lesbian market. US media reports on Pittsburgh wanting to target the lesbian and gay travel market. Out Now sees this as a tipping point.
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So you think gay travel and you think San Francisco, Amsterdam and Sydney.
Think again.
As well as the many cities we are growing used to seeing target the lesbian and gay travel market, today's US media contains this report that Pittsburgh - not seen as a traditional gay tourism mecca - is interested in positioning their destination for a share of the lucrative lesbian and gay travel market.
This is just one of a series of tipping points we are witnessing showing that gay marketing, in tourism and many other industries, is entering the mainstream.
A good thing for lesbian and gay travelers everywhere.
Here is an extract of the Pittsburgh Gay Travel market article:
By Mackenzie Carpenter
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Key West? Of course. Provincetown, Mass.? A no-brainer. But Philadelphia and Providence, R.I., are also listed as among the top 21 most "gay-friendly" travel destinations in the United States, according to a recent national survey by the Travel Industry Association.
Pittsburgh isn't there yet, although local tourism officials vow that will change, as they join other cities -- from the Rust Belt to the Bible Belt -- in seeking the increasingly lucrative gay and lesbian tourist dollar, estimated at $64 billion last year.
It's a shift that represents not just increased marketing efforts by those cities, but an increased tolerance of diversity in American culture, say experts.
In the past, says Bill Gehr-man of Altus Group, a Philadelphia-based advertising agency that crafted that city's much-praised gay tourism campaign, gays traveled "to get away and be with people who were just like them, towns like Provincetown or San Francisco that were purely gay."
Now, however, "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."
Still, he added, "You can have the greatest attractions in the world, but if you're not known as being tolerant, it just goes down the drain."
That's where the poll by the Travel Industry Association comes in, which the group calls the first comprehensive study done on this subject.
Respondents identifying themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender (GLBT) were asked to identify places -- from a list of 75 metropolitan areas, in the United States and Canada -- where they'd like to travel.
The three most important factors for this group were: whether a place is safe and free from intimidation and threats; whether it is culturally welcoming and known to support diversity and GLBT civil rights; and word of mouth.
By far, though, the "friendliness" quotient came first, with nearly half of those surveyed citing its importance.
How does a city become gay-friendly, anyway?
The answer seems to be as much about culture and history as it is about marketing. San Francisco's reputation as a gay mecca has its roots in the 1849 Gold Rush, according to Laurie Armstrong, of the city's Visitor Information Center.
"Thousands of people, mostly men, came here to seek their fortunes," she noted. "What kind of people would do that? Risk takers, we know, and people who didn't have anything to leave behind, who were different and who came to California to make a new start."
While San Francisco's gays were as closeted as others in America during much of its history, the election of openly gay Harvey Milk as the city's supervisor in the 1970s encouraged others to come out. By the 1980s, a "gay-friendly" travel destination was born, with gay travel agents, tour operators and gay media helping to promote it.
Other, more surprising places are vying for gay tourists, such as Bloomington, Ind., and Dallas in the heart of the Bible Belt.
"I know a lot people may be surprised," said Philip Jones of the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau, "but there's a whole movement in the travel industry reaching out to this market, and we wanted to make sure Dallas was well-positioned to take advantage of it."
Beverly Morrow Jones, a spokeswoman for Visit Pittsburgh, the city's tourism information bureau, says the city is prepared to do that.
"VisitPittsburgh is very interested in pursuing the GLBT marketplace," she said. "We've found tremendous acceptance from that community, who are amazed, once they visit, about how wonderful Pittsburgh is and how welcoming we are."
Pittsburgh's image also has gotten a boost in the gay community by serving as the setting for the Showtime series about gay life, "Queer as Folk."
With great neighbourhoods in Shadyside, Lawrenceville and the North Side, with various gay-owned and gay-friendly shops, restaurants, inns and bed-and-breakfasts Pittsburgh may well be ready to take the gay marketing step.
Gay-friendly Pittsburgh places to stay
The Priory, North Side
The Inn on the Mexican War Streets, North Side
The Parador, Allegheny West
The Hampton Inn University Center, Oakland
Embassy Suites Hotel, Pittsburgh International Airport
Omni William Penn Hotel, Downtown
The Hilton Pittsburgh, Downtown
Holiday Inn Parkway East, Wilkinsburg
The guide also lists other places to stay, the Arbors Bed and Breakfast on the North Side and the Holiday Inn Pittsburgh Airport
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