News :: GLBT
Gay Haven :: Hub targets GLBT tourism with new ad campaign by Scott Kearnan
EDGE ContributorWednesday Mar 19, 2008Earlier this month, the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism unveiled plans to spend $4.6 million on a new advertising campaign.
While the ads won’t start airing until April 1, the big news behind them is it’s no April Fool’s Day prank. For the first time, several of the 90 ads produced will feature same-sex couples in a bid for the hearts, minds and spending cash of GLBT travelers.
The Hub has become somewhat of a bastion for progressive treatment of the gay community over the last few years, from the now infamous introduction of same-sex marriage in 2004 to the city council election of Cambridge Mayor Denise Simmons as the first black lesbian mayor in the country.
But, while the state was one of the first to implement targeted gay tourism marketing on a statewide level, the decision to court GLBT travelers is not without precedent.
In 2003, Pennsylvania launched "Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay," a hugely successful campaign that garnered major returns on its original investment in gay visitors.
According to Community Marketing, Inc., a San Francisco firm that specializes in research of GLBT tourism dollars, Pennsylvania earned $153 from new gay visitors for every dollar that was spent on the original campaign.
Perhaps inspired by that mid-Atlantic success story, the Bay State has clearly seen the value of targeting gay consumers in implementing its current strategy. The realization comes at a good time: based on 2007 research from Community Marketing, the state may risk losing a coveted spot on the list of 10 most visited US destinations for the GLBT market.
Long perceived as a cornerstone of the gay community’s cultural history, Provincetown is now tied with Miami for the No. 10 spot of gay destinations, buoyed mainly by the strength of its showing with lesbian travelers.
Among gay men, Provincetown is the lowest ranking selection on the list and its generational support is slipping. The destination is only No. 18 on the list of most popular choice for Gen-Y gay boys, for whom geographic brand loyalty is of paramount important. Who will inherit those Bloody Mary recipes and front porch rockers when the elder bed & breakfast crowd scrams for the big gay disco in the sky?
"Massachusetts is looking to get a bigger share of the 65 billion that gays and lesbians spend on travel and tourism in the United States." However, on the other end of the proverbial spectrum, P-Town continues to hold the No. 1 spot for senior lesbians. And the perennially popular Cape Cod mecca will benefit from at least one ad, which reportedly features a male, bi-racial couple shopping, dining and strolling the town hand-in-hand.
Concerted efforts to target the gay travel market are necessary for success, as GLBT tourists consistently cite gay-friendly reputation as a primary criteria in their choice of vacation destination.
Twenty-five percent reported traveling to attend a Pride celebration, and international barriers are less of a precluding issue: 76 percent of US GLBT travelers have a current passport, compared to 24-to-30 percent of all adult citizens.
Massachusetts isn’t the only New England state looking to get in on the hot gay action. Based in Portland, Maine, GayMaine.org is a collaborative of private citizens in the gay community looking to do their part to encourage GLBT travel to the state. The group hosted Frostbite ME, its inaugural weekend event series, from Friday, March 7 to Sunday, March 9. It featured plenty of gay-friendly events: "Speed Friending," art gallery strolls, a jazz brunch and ski trip, among others.
Speaking at that weekend’s EqualityMaine 24th Annual Awards Dinner, Margo Mallar--a Frostbite coordinator and Financial Advisor with Merrill Lynch, one of the weekend’s major sponsors--addressed the crowd on the importance of encouraging gay travel.
"Welcome to the 24th annual Maine shareholder meeting of GLBT Incorporated," welcomed Mallar, who proceeded to liken the gay community to an unrecognized business that would yield its investors major dividends. The analogous remarks were greeted by cheering, laughter and applause by more than 500 community members, leaders and State politicians in attendance.
"Massachusetts just announced that it will spend $4.6 million in taxpayer money this coming year to bring us to the Bay State," says Mallar, referencing the new ad campaigns.
"Why? This is not a politically correct initiative; this is business, my friends. Massachusetts is looking to get a bigger share of the 65 billion that gays and lesbians spend on travel and tourism in the United States."
And for a state that hosted the first Thanksgiving feast, it only makes sense to get a bigger slice of the rapidly changing all-American pie.
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