LGBT travel declined in 2009, the first time in 15 years, according to an annual tourism study published by Community Marketing, Inc. (CMI), a member of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce® and a certified LGBT-owned business.
In its 14th Annual Gay & Lesbian Tourism Survey, CMI found that LGBT travel decreased due to the "deep and wide-reaching recession."
Travel for business and cruise excursions were impacted the most severely by the bad economy, according to the survey, which polled self-identified gay men and lesbians on their travel habits in 2009.
LGBT travelers may have gone on fewer cruises in 2009, but they still took to the sea more often than their heterosexual counterparts—a trend that is consistent with past years and reaffirms LGBT travelers as a key market for cruises.
Regional travel, or "staycations," was the only category to experience an increase in 2009. Specifically, 66 percent of respondents reported going on a regional vacation in which they drove more than two hours to reach their destination. Forty-two percent took a vacation where the drive was two hours or less, and 14 percent took a staycation in a hotel in their own city.
"While [the number of travelers who took a staycation at a hotel in their own city] 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," according to the report.
In 2009, every major city in North America, except for Washington, D.C., experienced less LGBT travel. Larger markets, such as New York City, San Francisco and Las Vegas, saw slight decreases in leisure travel, with most seeing a drop of less than 5 percent. As for medium-sized cities, more geographically isolated destinations and resort towns, these saw decreases of up to 20 percent.
Overall, New York City was the most-visited destination for LGBT travelers in 2009, with 32 percent of those surveyed having traveled there. San Francisco and Las Vegas were the next-most popular destinations, with 27 percent and 26 percent of respondents saying they visited the two cities, respectively. Chicago was visited by 25 percent of participants, and Los Angeles/West Hollywood was a choice travel destination for 24 percent.
For leisure trips, the top five U.S. destinations for LGBT travelers were New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Los Angeles/West Hollywood and Chicago, in that order. Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Los Angeles were the top five destinations in the U.S. for LGBT business travel.
When it comes to booking flights and hotels, 56 percent of respondents said they do so directly through the airline or hotel Web site, while 34 percent reported using online travel agencies such as Travelocity or Orbitz. According to the report, because direct booking seems to be significantly more prevalent among LGBT travelers than Web-based travel services, it is important that travel suppliers build relationships with the LGBT community in order to encourage continued booking through the suppliers' Web sites. Also, the report noted that travel suppliers and destinations that have an LGBT-specific microsite, with tourism content dedicated to the LGBT segment, would find that to be "a positive motivator for LGBT consumers."
For more information about CMI's 14th Annual Gay & Lesbian Tourism Survey, download the PDF of the full report.
