Wednesday, June 29, 2011

CAN YOU AFFORD TO IGNORE THIS MARKET

New York State recently approved legislation to allow the LBGT community wishing to get married to do so. In approximately 30 days, there will be a lot of weddings and I am sure this will be followed by honeymoons.

Today, I would like to provide an overview of the tremendous buying power of this market. LGBT leisure travelers (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender).

According to renowned Forrester Research, this market of more than 7 million generates more than $41 Billion per year on their personal and leisure travel. They also tend to be more engaged with online travel booking than straight travelers. In comparison to the rest of the travel population, the incidence of rental cars and flights is much greater, but to successfully sell to LGBT travelers you must understand that your success depends on offering the right travel content – in the right way.

THE RIGHT CONTENT, IN THE RIGHT WAY, IS KEY TO LGBT TRAVEL SUCCESS.

Getting your content right is the most important element in developing a successful LGBT leisure travel business strategy. It is more important than social media, more important than mobile and more important than marketing. Why, because next to content, everything else is window dressing.* Travel firms that lack relevant content have nothing distinct to sell to LGBT travelers. I would also like to add that this goes for the rest of the population. In developing your content remember to:-

A. Sell both LGBT and general travel products. 49% of LGBT leisure travelers take trips to visit family and friends, so provide easy access to and promote your mainstream message and content.

B. Make it clear why a destination or hotel is LGBT-friendly.

C. LGBT leisure travelers have unique concerns. For example, is it acceptable for same-sex couples to hold hands in public? Are there LGBT-friendly neighborhoods, restaurants or clubs?

D. Will hotel check-in be pleasant or awkward? These are not unimportant details as 31% of LGBT travelers avoid cities/destinations where they feel the welcome mat has been rolled up and 32% avoid hotels where written or visual copy fails to make them feel welcome.

E. This is business - $41 Billion worth – not politics:

F. There are some destinations & service providers that have benefited from this alliance – Philadelphia whose visitphilly.com site includes a link to LGBT content Kimpton Hotel & Restaurants, Expedia to name a few.

G. Do make sure your LGBT content is ‘upfront’ and visible, not hiding behind pages of other things: preferably starting out on the ‘home page’.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Average Age - 42 years

Household Income - $77,325.00

Married/partnered - 49%

Vacation of 4-7days - 47%

Vacation of 8+ days - 26%

The above is just for general market travel. Can you imagine the destination or hotel that caters to the honeymoon/romance market and the tremendous revenues that can be earned from the rush of weddings in the next month and onward?

New York is a great 'feeder' market for the Caribbean! Think about that.

I am in the process of featuring all Hotels and Travel Suppliers who focus on this market segment on http://www.MarryCaribbean.com. Caribbean Hotels, please do not hesitate to send me relevant information on your company/hotel for inclusion. Email:Jacqueline@MarryCaribbean.com
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