Ian Johnson, Out Now
August 31, 2007
The gay and lesbian communications PR disaster for Fort Lauderdale LGBT tourism marketing has continued on all through this week.
The latest development is that Fort Lauderdale Mayor, Jim Naugle, has been removed from his position on the region's tourist board as a result of his anti-gay statements, a decision taken by local Broward County Commissioners.
"He's twisting and distorting facts and statistics to fit his own distorted view of what's going on here," Stacy Ritter, a Broward County Commissioner who voted this week to remove Naugle from the tourism board told The Washington Post.
The biggest obstacle to attracting gay tourism to the region is clearly now Mayor Naugle himself.
Most people in the LGBT tourism market segment would hold no wish to visit an area, even one as beautiful as Fort Lauderdale, when they fear that they are potentially going to be made to feel so unwelcome.
Mayor Jim Naugle's remarks in Fort Lauderdale seem to deliberately rely on the worst stereotypes to tarnish all gay men negatively, and this justifiably causes great discomfort amongst the LGBT tourism market.
This is a growing PR and gay and lesbian communications disaster, and the sooner this is resolved calmly the better for all concerned.
Here is an extract on the issue from that Washington Post article.
August 30, 2007. FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Tourism officials have worked for years to make this beach town a gay-friendly destination. Now their biggest obstacle could be the mayor himself.
Mayor Jim Naugle has made a string of recent comments that critics say were blatantly homophobic.
He portrayed city park restrooms as popular gay sex spots, opposed a plan to house a gay book collection in a public library and insists on using the word "homosexual" because many of them "aren't gay, they are unhappy." He also said tourism officials should put less emphasis on attracting gays, and he objected to tourism brochures showing men together in bed.
His stand has prompted angry protests, demands that the six-term mayor resign, and his removal Tuesday from the area's Tourism Development Council.
"We've got a message that says we're a warm, welcoming, safe destination, and his message is virtually the opposite," said Nicki Grossman, head of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. "The mayor has painted a frightening picture of his city, and we're desperately trying to change that."
Naugle, a 53-year-old married man and father of a 9-year-old daughter, insists that he is not a homophobe and that he is aware of the many contributions gays have made here. He says he is simply trying to combat illegal and unsafe activity.
"If it were done by heterosexuals or bisexuals or homosexuals, it really wouldn't make any difference," he said.
Gays are a cornerstone of this city's tourism industry, pitting Fort Lauderdale against other popular vacation spots, including Miami and Key West. Last year, officials say, about 980,000 of the area's 10.4 million visitors were gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender, and they spent $1.1 billion of the roughly $8.5 billion generated by tourists.
Tourism officials say Naugle's remarks about gays and his depiction of the city as one swept by perverts lurking in parks and at bathhouses have done major harm. They say his comments are dissuading not only gays from visiting, but also families who fear the city is unsafe for their children.
The visitors bureau typically sets aside $350,000 of its $5 million advertising budget for marketing targeted at gays, but earmarked $450,000 this year because it was deemed a growth market. Officials said they may need to spend even more, and dip into a reserve kept in case of a hurricane, to combat Naugle's comments.
"This community has been torn apart," Grossman said. "Now the healing begins."
-------------------
For expert LGBT tourism marketing, LGBT tourism market expert advice to target LGBT travel market consumers, LGBT target consumer market research, and help with targeting gay consumers, all from the leading gay consumer gay tourism market targeting experts: contact Out Now.
Out Now Consulting and Gay Market News will keep you updated on all the latest gay marketing, GLBT community market research, LGBT travel and gay tourism, gay and lesbian communications, gay PR and gay advertising developments.
Gay market insight is Out Now: Gay Marketing. Solved.OutNowConsulting.com |||| GayMarketing101.com
To contact Out Now, send us an email.
To contact Out Now, send us an email.
Helping brands marketing & advertising to gays and lesbians.
LGBT communications successfully reaching the lesbian and gay consumer market since 1992.
gay market gay advertising gay marketing gay tourism gay travel pink dollar pink pound gay agency advertising marketing travel tourism gay lesbian gay and lesbian market research glbt lgbt communications community pink euro
LGBT communications successfully reaching the lesbian and gay consumer market since 1992.
All content on all Out Now websites (C) 2007 - Out Now. Out Now Gay Market News -- Gay Marketing 101 gay market updates site. LGBT communications. Gay PR. Global gay PR marketing, gay public relations strategy, GLBT PR, LGBT issues training, gay advertising, LGBT market, lesbian and gay market research leaders, GLBT marketing. Gay Market News is Gay Marketing 101 - Out Now Gay Marketing, Advertising, Gay PR, Market Research. Travel Market. Training.
gay market gay advertising gay marketing gay tourism gay travel pink dollar pink pound gay agency advertising marketing travel tourism gay lesbian gay and lesbian market research glbt lgbt communications community pink euro Bookmark GayMarketNews.com to get back here, and subscribe to our RSS feed. For reaching gay consumers, lesbian and gay market research, GLBT advertising, gay PR, GayComfort™ training and gay marketing strategies, choose OutNowConsulting.com.
1 comments:
Being a Gay resident of Ft Lauderdale I am horrified because of this. Our major is looking for a bigger political future in Florida and there would be no way someone from rural north Florida would ever vote for anyone that ran libral Ft Lauderdale. So he is setting himself up for future election success at the Gay populations expense, its horrible !
Post a Comment