Yesterday Out Now released preliminary findings of its gay tourism market research study for the City of Tel Aviv.
The news? Some bad - mixed with a lot of good.
Ian Johnson, Out Now
October 12, 2009
Topics: Gay and lesbian marketing. Tel Aviv, Israel. LGBT market. Gay marketing. Advertising. PR. Marketing Tel Aviv to the gay and lesbian tourism market.
Yesterday, interim findings from the latest Out Now gay market research study were released in Tel Aviv.
This research by Out Now is a groundbreaking piece of work - being the first gay tourism market research study into gay market travel intentions to visit the Middle East - in this case, the city of Tel Aviv.
Our findings were greeted warmly by the city of Tel Aviv and its key decision-makers.
The Mayor of Tel Aviv, Ron Huldai, was present to attend this event which happened at the IGLTA symposium in the GLBT Aguda Center.
The final results are being presented next month by Yaniv Waizman - the Mayor's tourism advisor at the Out Now Gay Marketing Masterclass at WTM London World Travel Market.
We were welcomed to the symposium by John Tanzella, CEO of the International Gay and Lesbian Tourism Association (IGLTA) - whose local rep, Shai Doitsh, did an excellent job at organizing the symposium that happened yesterday.
Below (L to R): Ian Johnson - Out Now; Ron Huldai - Mayor of Tel Aviv; John Tanzella - IGLTA CEO; Yaniv Waizman - Tel Aviv Alderman; Etty Gargir - CEO Tourist Association of Tel Aviv-Yafo.
Etty Gargir - head of the Tourist Association of Tel Aviv, spoke of the importance of the Out Now research to guide Tel Aviv as it charts its strategy for increasing levels of gay and lesbian tourism.
One of the nicest guys working in tourism anywhere in the world - Russell Lord of Kenes Tours - also spoke to the delegates yesterday on the power of LGBT tourism to build a better future in this region that has had more than its fair share of troubles over the years.
The event was big news here in Israel - making various TV news broadcasts last night and many of today's news websites and print newspapers.
Below is an extract from an article that is in today's Jerusalem Post about the Out Now gay market research study in Tel Aviv.
In Jewish culture there is an expression called "Mazel Tov" which means good luck - or sometimes good destiny. I feel rather blessed to be here working on this project at this time. It is a quite special experience for my company, and for me personally.
'Foreign gays think they're unwelcome in TA'
In the eyes of Israelis, Tel Aviv may be a liberal and gay-friendly city, but a new survey of gays from abroad found Tel Aviv unsafe, intolerant and too religious.
The survey results were released on Sunday to a group of gay tourism professionals, as part of the International Gay and Lesbian Tourism Association annual conference and symposium being held in Tel Aviv.
Tourism professionals specializing in the gay and lesbian market are in Israel this week to get a first-hand view of the country, so that they can pass the information on to their clients. Based out of Tel Aviv, the group will also tour Jerusalem, the Dead Sea and the North before moving on to other countries.
According to preliminary results of a survey conducted by the US-based Out Now consulting, which specializes in the gay and lesbian market, only 5 percent of the people polled said they were very likely to visit Tel Aviv as a tourism destination, while 46% said they were very unlikely to do so.
The survey, which polled 900 people from Germany, London and the New York region who identify as homosexual, found that the likelihood of a visit grew if the person asked knew someone who had visited Tel Aviv.
The main reasons given for not coming to Israel were: safety concerns (84%), regional conflict (70%), perceptions of Tel Aviv being too religious (62%) and the belief that homosexuals are unwelcome (41%).
When asked what would draw them to Tel Aviv, 67% said cited the beaches, 65% said they would come to experience the local culture, 59% mentioned Israel's rich history, 43% were attracted by the prospect of visiting Jerusalem and 31% said they would come for the Gay and Lesbian night life that the city has to offer.
According to Out Now CEO Ian Johnson, the final results of the survey will be published in a few days. Johnson was optimistic about the survey results, pointing to the relatively high proportion of people who answered maybe/maybe not when asked if they would visit Tel Aviv.
"This is a group that we can work with. With the aid of marketing and communication these people can be moved into the likely category," he said.
Despite the mildly negative survey results, Tel Aviv will continue to be heavily touted as a gay tourism destination. The fact that the annual conference is being held there is a testimony to the efforts put forward by the municipality to develop rainbow tourism.
"Tel Aviv is Israel's capital of commerce, economy, culture and nearly everything else. It adds honor to the country as a whole because of the values it holds dear," Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai said."Yesterday, I participated in a Simhat Torah celebration and someone came up to me and urged me to stop holding the Pride Parade in the city. That is the nature of democracy; different people have different ideas. All I can say is that gay pride is part of the life of the city and everyone here is free to be whatever they want."
Tel Aviv council member Yaniv Waizman is the driving force behind the city's gay-friendly initiatives. He said that despite the shooting that took place in the gay and lesbian youth center on August 1, Tel Aviv was very open to homosexuals. "The shooting was traumatic, but it made us stronger and just increased our willingness to succeed," he said.
He added that what is necessary for future success is increased marketing budgets, a gay-orientated information booth and the goodwill of the citizens and service providers to welcome those who come to the city. Waizman asked the foreign visitors to be Israel's ambassadors to the gay community and attempt to break down the common misconceptions.
In anticipation of the conference, a small group of protesters stood outside the G.L.B.T. Community Center to demonstrate against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. The group members all wore black shirts with "Queers for Palestine" printed on them.
"We are queer activist here to protest the promotion of gay tourism to Israel and to encourage queers to visit Palestine," said a man who identified himself as Zohar, the group's spokesman.
"This has been an issue that has been manipulated in the last few months, especially since the shooting in Tel Aviv, but even before that, to supposedly represent the liberal State of Israel... As queer people, we don't want to be used as a poster for human rights."
If you want to get your gay marketing up to speed to include the latest social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with market leaders Out Now.
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AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.
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To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.
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