Gay and Lesbian Tourism Study

This is the 14th Annual Gay & Lesbian Tourism Report from Community Marketing, Inc. This report is based on survey responses from about 4700 Americans self-identified as gay and lesbian consumers. The findings explores tourism and hospitality opportunities in the gay and lesbian market.

 

Introduction

Findings from Community Marketing, Inc.’s (CMI) 14th Annual Gay & Lesbian Tourism Study have been compiled from responses from self-identified gay and lesbian consumers who read LGBT publications, visit LGBT websites, interact with LGBT organizations and/or attend LGBT events. With over 4,700 responses, CMI samples far more qualified respondents than any other LGBT tourism research, and offers valuable insights about consumers who may be reached through LGBT-dedicated marketing initiatives.

Based on tourism industry data from the US Department of Commerce and CMI sample demographics, the annual economic impact of LGBT travelers is approximately $63.3 billion in the US alone.

This report contains a detailed statistical analysis of the results for the 14th Annual Gay & Lesbian Tourism Survey. Of the 7,078 total survey participants in this year’s study, 4,726 are LGBT consumers who reside in the United States.

 

Methodology

During the 30-day period from October 6, 2009 to November 5, 2009, Community Marketing, Inc. (CMI) conducted an online survey of self-identified gay and lesbian individuals selected from CMI’s proprietary survey panel regarding their travel habits and motivators, to provide data and insight to the tourism, travel and hospitality industries.

Community Marketing has developed its survey panel over the last 15+ years by partnering with leading media companies from across the United States, as well as LGBT organizations and events. Subscribers to this survey panel received an email invitation to take a gay/lesbian travel survey, with an incentive to win one of six prizes. In order to keep the survey panel geographically balanced to the US Census same sex partner data, a second invitation was sent to targeted geographic areas to balance regions that were initially underrepresented.

We make no attempt in this study to define the size of the LGBT population (which is virtually impossible for many reasons), nor are these findings intended to represent or profile the entire US gay and lesbian population (similarly challenging). Instead, these findings are designed to provide guidance to tourism companies looking to outreach to the LGBT community through their media and events.

Some survey questions invite multiple responses, and in these cases, percentages total more than 100.

 

Survey Demographics

The purpose of the survey is to give guidance to travel-related companies considering advertising in the gay and lesbian media (print and Internet), and connect through the communities events and organizations. The demographics of this survey are consistent with the reader profiles of the majority of LGBT media, trending significantly towards white and male (except for specific lesbian media), and middle aged.

This report provides data from United States respondents only.

The median age was 48.

75% were gay men, 25% lesbian, 3% bisexual, 1% transgender (multiple responses were permitted).

37% were single, 51% living with partner, 12% in relationship not living with partner.

6% had children under 18 living at home.

87% White, 5% Latino, 3% African American, 2% Asian, 3% other/mixed.

 

Top Ten Findings

For the past 14 years, Community Marketing, Inc. (CMI) has been conducting its Annual Gay & Lesbian Tourism Study, the most comprehensive and longest-running such survey in the LGBT marketplace. Many of the questions are asked in consistent ways to a similar study panel, in order to identify LGBT travel trends and changes over time.

The following “top ten” list presents findings that the CMI research team views as important changes or observations from the past year. For those new to CMI’s research, all the questions provide important insight into the travel motivations, preferences and interests of gay men and lesbians.

 

1) Gay Men and Lesbian Booking Patterns

Gays and lesbians are primarily booking their travel directly via airline and hotel websites (56%) or through online travel agencies such as Travelocity or Orbitz (34%). Direct booking is significantly more important than web-based travel services, so for travel suppliers, developing relationships with the gay and lesbian community to encourage direct booking through your own website is extremely important. Travel suppliers and destinations having an LGBT “microsite” with dedicated content is a positive motivator for LGBT consumers.

 

2) For the First Time in 15 years of sampling – A Decrease in LGBT Travel

For the first time since our first study in 1994, CMI has seen a decrease in LGBT travel due to the deep and wide-reaching recession. This survey, taken in October 2009, was far more pessimistic than CMI’s survey taken in October 2008, which largely showed a net-even in travel patterns. In the 2009 survey, nearly all travel categories saw some loss (except for regional travel). Business travel and cruise travel were the hardest-hit categories. That said, far more LGBT travelers took cruises in the past year than their mainstream counterparts (as in previous years), indicating that LGBT travelers are a viable cruise market even in down economies.

 

3) Recession-Influenced Travel Decreases Affecting Small and Medium-Sized Markets Worse than Big Markets

Every major city in North America except for Washington DC (perhaps an Obama effect) saw a decrease in gay and lesbian travel over the past 12 months. That decrease affected cities very differently. Major markets, including New York City, San Francisco and Las Vegas saw only small leisure travel decreases, usually less than 5%, while medium sized cities, destinations that are geographically isolated, and some resort towns saw more significant decreases over 10%, and for some, over 20%.

 

4) Staycations

Staycations were the only travel category to see an increase in 2009. When asked to specify how many regional drive vacations (i.e. including at least one night in a hotel) were taken, 66% indicated taking a longer regional drive vacation of more than two hours; 42% took a regional drive vacation where the drive was two hours or less; 14% took a trip where they stayed in a hotel in their own city. This trend should benefit some metropolitan markets. Cities such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC, which are all close to each other, will probably “trade” stays among LGBT residents.

Also of note is the 14% of gays and lesbians who reported taking a staycation at a hotel in their own town, defined as a very short drive or via public transportation. While this number may be smaller, with dedicated promotions this could be a way of filling hotel rooms during slower periods, especially if packaged with other local activities.

 

5) How to Reach the LGBT Community

CMI has been tracking advertising trends for LGBT travel marketing for over a decade. In general, the survey shows substantive increases in the influence of traveler reviews on travel websites and blogs, a softening of the influence of banner ads on mainstream and LGBT websites, and a remarkable resilience of the influence of travel articles in LGBT and mainstream print publications.

 

6) Interest in Health and Fitness While Traveling is Down

CMI has seen a trend over the past few years showing that health and fitness while traveling are becoming less important to the LGBT community. In this survey, when given a long list of potential motivators, health and fitness-related responses were near the bottom of the motivators, and often last on the lists. From hotel gyms to health and fitness vacations, they all scored poorly. This is not to say that health and fitness are not important in the day-to-day lives of gay men and lesbians, but bringing these healthy habits with them on leisure or business travel has shown less importance over time. It could also indicate that with tightening budgets, LGBT travelers prefer to spend more time enjoying the sights and experiences of the destination, rather than spend limited time in a gym.

 

7) Pride Events are Important

Unaffected by recessionary influences, nearly a quarter of the respondents reported traveling to another city and spending at least one night in a hotel to attend a Pride event; same as previous years. Nationally, Pride events continue to move millions of hotel nights in the Unites States, and Pride remains an important motivator for LGBT travelers under 35.

 

8) Strength of Local Neighborhoods

Further confirming other recent research conducted by CMI, gays and lesbians tend to be especially interested in visiting city neighborhoods and experiencing local, non-chain restaurants. In fact, going to neighborhood restaurants and visiting the gay neighborhood were the top activities enjoyed by gays and lesbians when visiting a destination.

 

9) Top Travel Brands

As an unaided question, survey participants were asked to fill in a blank for in the destination, hotel brand, and airline that they felt had done the best job in outreaching to the LGBT community.

Of the total sample, 3,800 responded to the destination question. The top destinations indicated were: Las Vegas: 11%, San Francisco: 10%, Fort Lauderdale: 7%, Philadelphia: 6%, Provincetown: 5%, and London: 5%.

Of the total sample, 2,800 responded to the hotel question. The top hotel brands indicated were: W Hotels: 11%, Kimpton Hotels: 11%, Hilton: 9%, Hyatt: 8%, and Marriott: 7%.

Of the total sample, 3,287 responded to the airline question. The top airlines indicated were: American Airlines: 38%, Southwest: 15%, Delta: 11% and Virgin: 3%.

 

10) Top Destinations

CMI’s list of top destinations remains amazingly consistent from year to year (based on the question of where did you travel in the past 12 months, and spend at least one night in a hotel).

The following lists are reflective of the 4,726 American LGBT survey takers, who traveled to the city in the past 12 months and spent at least one night in a hotel:

Top 25 US Destinations for American LGBT Travelers, with percentage who visited and spent a night in a hotel (as Combined Leisure & Business Travel Ranking)
1) New York City: 32%
2) San Francisco: 27%
3) Las Vegas: 26%
4) Chicago: 25%
5) Los Angeles / West Hollywood: 24%
6) Washington, DC: 23%
7) Fort Lauderdale: 17%
8) San Diego: 15%
9) Orlando: 14%
9) Seattle: 14%
11) Boston: 13%
11) Philadelphia: 13%
13) Palm Springs 12%
13) Atlanta: 12%
13) Miami: 12%
16) Dallas: 11%
16) Denver: 11%
16) Phoenix/Tempe/Scottsdale: 11%
19) New Orleans: 10%
20) Napa County, CA: 9%
20) Provincetown, MA: 9%
20) Sonoma County, CA: 9%
23) Portland, OR 8%
23) Baltimore: 8%
23) Tampa/St. Pete: 8%

 

Top 5 US Destinations for American LGBT Travelers (as Leisure Travel Ranking)

1. New York
2. Las Vegas
3. San Francisco
4. Los Angeles / West Hollywood
5. Chicago

 

Top 5 US Destinations for American LGBT Travelers (as Business Travel Ranking)

1. Chicago
2. New York
3. Washington DC
4. San Francisco
5. Los Angeles

 

Top Canadian Destinations for American LGBT Travelers

1. Toronto
2. Montreal
3. Vancouver

 

Top European Destinations for American LGBT Travelers

1. England
2. France
3. Germany
4. Italy
5. Spain

 

Below are the top destinations for segments within the full LGBT panel:

Top 5 Destinations for American Gay Men

1. New York
2. Las Vegas
3. San Francisco
4. Los Angeles / West Hollywood
5. Chicago

 

Top 5 Destinations for American Lesbians

1. Las Vegas
2. San Francisco
3. New York
4. Los Angeles / West Hollywood
5. Chicago

 

Top 5 Destinations for American LGBT Seniors Age 62+

1. New York
2. Las Vegas
3. Los Angeles / West Hollywood
4. Fort Lauderdale
5. San Francisco

 

Top 5 Destinations for American LGBT Young Adults Age 18-32

1. New York
2. Las Vegas
3. San Francisco
4. Chicago
5. Washington DC

 

How Most Recent Vacation Was Purchased

Over half of participants (56%) said they had purchased their most recent vacation directly with airlines and hotels, whether by phone or a website. Another one-third (34%) reported purchasing the vacation through an online travel agency website like Travelocity or Orbitz.

 

Travel Compared to Previous Year

The largest percentages of respondents reported that compared to the previous year, their overall travel in the past year had remained the same (39%), as had their leisure travel (42%).

Of the 66% of those who reported any business travel, the greatest percentage (44%) said their business travel had decreased.

Of the 40% of respondents who reported taking cruises, the greatest percentage (45%) said the number of cruises they had taken had decreased compared to the previous year.

Looking at the bigger picture, more survey respondents reported a decrease in travel than an increase. This contrasts to the report of October 2008 that showed an equal number of respondents increasing travel as decreasing travel for a net neutral effect, and previous years when we saw travel increasing year over year.

 

Number of Roundtrip Flights, and Flights in Business or First-Class

The majority (79%) of respondents reported at least one roundtrip air flight for business or leisure in the past year. 24% indicated that they took at least one business class flight in the past year.

 

Used a Smart Phone to Research or Book Travel

Asked about researching or booking travel with a smart phone, 48% of participants said they didn’t have a smart phone. Over one-third (37%) said they used their phones to stay in touch while away, whether through e-mail, texting or Facebook. Some also reported using their phones for maps (31%), flight alerts (25%) or finding local mainstream resources at the destination (25%).

 

Overnight Trips With Hotel Stay

Reporting on the number of overnight trips taken in the last twelve months during which they had stayed in a hotel, participants took a mean of 4.8 leisure trips and 3.1 business trips. 10% of the community are “super travelers” taking 10 or more trips per year, and 60% of respondents took 3 or more leisure trips during the year.

 

Types of Overnight Leisure Trips

Participants were more likely to report having taken overnight leisure trips where trips involved longer flights (69%) or drive vacations of more than two hours (67%) than when the trip was a drive vacation of less than two hours in one’s own region (44%) or a trip involving a short flight (41%). Nearly 15% reported taking a leisure trip with an overnight stay in their own city.

 

This is an excerpt from the full December 2009 report; download it in pdf format here.

Thomas Roth is president of Community Marketing, Inc. The San Francisco-based company, founded in 1992, connects their tourism and hospitality clients with LGBT, green, and other trend-leading “niche” segments through consumer research, strategic planning and highly targeted communications channels. Visit their website at www.CommunityMarketingInc.com.