CHICAGO, Illinois — In anticipation of Gay Games VII coming to Chicago in July 2006, Illinois is pushing ahead with it’s first targeted effort to attract gay and lesbian travelers to niche markets across the state.
“We will have our first ever media familiarization trip focusing on the affluent gay and lesbian market,” Jan Kostner, deputy director of the Illinois Bureau of Tourism, told 600 travel professionals gathered Wednesday at the 18th annual Illinois Governor's Conference on Tourism.
In August, the state and city together will host members of the gay press for a familiarization trip, showing them the city’s gay scene, sites and tourist destinations.
“We will promote the Gay Games, and Chicago and Illinois as gay-friendly destinations,” Kostner told the Chicago Tribune. “We want to get the city on the radar screen.”
According to Kostner, after tackling Chicago, the bureau of tourism plans to extend familiarization trips to cities including Springfield and Galena.
The initiative comes about a year after the state more than doubled annual budgets for marketing to two other fast-growing travel-market sectors – African-Americans and Latinos. The state will spend $350,000 to market to each group, both this fiscal year and the next, which begins July 1.
“We are definitely heeding the warning that we need to find strategies that reach a greatly diversified audience,” Kostner said at the conference at the Hilton Chicago.
There are strong financial incentives for reaching out to niche markets.
Gays and lesbians spent an estimated $54.1 billion on travel in 2003, representing about 15 percent of the U.S. travel market, according to Community Marketing Inc.
And because many are dual-income couples with no children, they have a good deal of discretionary income and time, said John D'Alessandro, interim executive director of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association.
In addition to working with the state on the press trip in August, the city will have a chance to show off its attractions in September, when the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association meets at the Palmer House Hilton.
The Gay Games, with 23 sports competitions, are expected to draw 12,000 participants and generate more than $35 million in tourism revenue for the city.
“The city has all the bone structure – a great community of bars and restaurants that are gay- and lesbian-friendly,” said D'Alessandro. “The city just has got to remind people that they are there.” – Gay Link Content
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related stories
Gay Games 2010 bid – latest update [13/03/2004]
For more info on Gay Sport in South Africa contact Gay Sport SA
One should not increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything
