If you have any doubt about the rebound of the LGBTQ+ travel market, just ask David Rubin, CEO and founder of DavidTravel, a Palm Springs, Calif.-based agency affiliated with Coastline Travel Advisors.
“LGBTQ clients are traveling at full steam ahead, including on cruises and in groups,” he said. “Our high-end clientele is spending at the highest levels we have seen.”
Indeed, multiple advisors are reporting record-breaking sales and sold-out events and cruises for this market. In addition, more advisors and suppliers are recognizing the value of focusing on niches within the LGBTQ+ segment, as it continues to become more diverse and inclusive. The travel industry is more aware than ever that LGBTQ+ travelers are far from a monolithic group of like-minded globetrotters.
Our community has always been known for its resilience, so when people started traveling again, they made up for that lost time.
“The LGBTQ+ demographic has evolved and grown over the years,” said Albert Herrera, executive vice president, partner relations at Internova Travel Group. “They are savvier, travel more and have larger families. Now more than ever, people want to travel in ways that support their personal values.”
The pandemic-era slowdown gave the travel industry a chance to re-evaluate its approach to the LGBTQ+ market, according to John Tanzella, president and CEO of the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association (IGLTA).
“Our community has always been known for its resilience, so when people started traveling again, they made up for that lost time,” he said. “While we faced challenges along the way, the pandemic gave us an opportunity to rethink how we can create a more inclusive and welcoming space for all travelers. This period of reflection and re-evaluation has enabled us to bounce back stronger than ever.”
Trending Niches Within the Segment
Scott Wismont, owner of Rainbow Getaways in Orlando, Fla., is witnessing especially high demand for FIT travel, cruises and events.
Family travel within the LGBTQ community is back and as strong as it was before the pandemic, and we’ve got couples going out and spending way more on a vacation than they would have four years ago.
“[Gay travel companies] Atlantis Events and Vacaya are constantly selling out of cruises and resort stays,” he said. “Family travel within the LGBTQ community is back and as strong as it was before the pandemic, and we’ve got couples going out and spending way more on a vacation than they would have four years ago. This year’s going to be a great year, and next year should be even better.”
Gregory Kiep, a travel advisor at Global Travel Collection in West Hollywood, Calif., is also witnessing strong sales in a variety of niches within the LGBTQ+ segment.
A LGBTQ+ event in Prague
Credit: 2023 zera ruzgar/stock.adobe.com“I sell a lot of LGBTQ cruises and river cruises, as well as luxury, gay-friendly destinations such as Provincetown, Mass.; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Mykonos, Greece; and Palm Springs, Calif.,” he said. “I also help clients visit events including World Pride in Sydney; parties in Barcelona, Spain, and Mykonos; and pre- and post- [travel] before cruises with companies such as Atlantis Events, RSVP Vacations and more.”
LGBTQ+ Family Travel
Denise Ambrusko-Maida, founder of Travel Brilliant, a Buffalo, New York-based agency that specializes in family travel, describes her company’s boom in LGBTQ+ family vacation sales as “tremendous — our biggest year yet.”
Ambrusko-Maida’s agency partners with Gays With Kids, an organization that provides resources for gay men who are fathers, to organize an annual event called the Gays With Kids Gay Dad Spring Break, which took place most recently in April at Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya in Mexico.
More LGBTQ+ families are traveling.
Credit: 2023 oneinchpunch/stock.adobe.com“We’re seeing a huge boom in couples with children traveling,” she said. “It’s been growing exponentially. [During] year one for Gays With Kids, we had eight families. This year, we have 18. We hope to bring on some additional sponsors for the event so we can make it bigger and better.”
Transgender and Gender-Diverse Travelers
As awareness increases, suppliers and advisors are paying more attention than ever to transgender travelers.
“We’re seeing more conversation around creating welcoming and inclusive spaces for transgender and gender-diverse people — and we recognize there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure all members of our community feel safe and welcomed when they travel,” Tanzella of IGLTA said. “That’s why our foundation has formed a transgender advisory group to develop and improve resources for travel professionals, to help them better understand and serve these travelers.”
Ambrusko-Maida says that her agency is especially careful during the qualification process with transgender clients.
It’s harder for my transgender travelers in some ways, so we do a whole intake sheet and I let them know about TSA, medical device requirements and so forth.
“It’s harder for my transgender travelers in some ways, so we do a whole intake sheet and I let them know about TSA, medical device requirements and so forth,” she said.
She also pays close attention to which destinations are most welcoming.
Advisors should ask detailed qualifying questions when planning LGBTQ+ travel.
Credit: 2023 Discover Puerto Rico“This year, Bali has popped up as a huge destination,” she said. “It’s a liberal island, so they’re very welcoming of people who are nonbinary and transgender. We feel very comfortable recommending it to our travelers.”
Destinations on the Rise
More destinations are acknowledging the diversity — and appeal — of the LGBTQ+ market, according to Tanzella.
“They are no longer treating LGBTQ+ travelers as a niche group, but instead are recognizing that they are an integral part of the travel market,” he said. “They are also recognizing that LGBTQ+ travel extends beyond gay, white, cisgender men and designing outreach that embraces our diverse community.”
They are also recognizing that LGBTQ+ travel extends beyond gay, white, cisgender men and designing outreach that embraces our diverse community.
Among the destinations enjoying a more prominent profile in the LGBTQ+ segment are Guadalajara, Mexico, which will serve as a host city for the 11th edition of Gay Games, a global LGBTQ+ sporting and cultural event that takes place Nov. 3-11; and Malta, which will serve as host city for EuroPride 2023, a pan-European pride event scheduled for Sept. 7-17. (The Spartacus Gay Travel Index named Malta the most LGBTQ-friendly travel destination this year, followed by Canada and Switzerland, which tied for the No. 2 spot.)
Also enjoying greater media attention is Puerto Rico, which launched an LGBTQ+ promotional campaign in 2021, and is hosting this year’s IGLTA Global Convention, an annual LGBTQ+ travel convention that takes place in San Juan on Oct. 4-7.
Leah Chandler, chief marketing officer of Discover Puerto Rico, the destination’s marketing organization, said the LGBTQ+ market is an important demographic component.
Puerto Rico has been courting the LGBTQ+ market with inclusive marketing.
Credit: 2023 Discover Puerto Rico“Since the DMO’s inception, cultivating an authentically welcoming, inclusive environment and elevating the island in the eyes of the queer community has been and will always be one of our core pillars and driving commitments,” she said.
Long-time favorite destinations, meanwhile, continue to up their game. Fort Lauderdale reportedly set a new global record in February when it hosted four sold-out LGBTQ+ cruises in one month, according to Visit Lauderdale, the destination’s marketing organization. Those cruises included an Atlantis-chartered voyage on Royal Caribbean International’s Harmony of the Seas, which was billed as the largest gay cruise ever, with 5,400 passengers.
The Importance of Qualifying Clients
Qualifying clients is an important step in the sales process with any client, but it can be even more crucial when dealing with LGBTQ+ clients, since safety and comfort levels are among the top concerns of some travelers.
“I like to talk about their comfort level and expectations for the ‘LGBTQ part’ of the trip,” said Kiep of Global Travel Collection. “Are bars and clubs important, for example? Would they be upset going to a destination where it may be easier to have two twin beds or where I would suggest not holding hands? I always try to gauge their comfort level and discuss safety in relation to any destination I recommend.”
Rubin follows a similar tack.
“For example, one gay couple may want a city such as Barcelona, Spain; Berlin; or Tel Aviv, Israel, with a vibrant gay scene for their summer trip,” he said. “On the other hand, the same couple may want a November trip to Morocco or Saudi Arabia to explore history, religion, art, architecture, archeology, culture and cuisine. We help enable them to navigate and explore safely and comfortably, while respecting the cultures they are visiting.”
Ambrusko-Maida of Travel Brilliant said that steering clients to welcoming destinations sometimes requires education.
“It’s all about saying, ‘I understand the experience you want to have. Let’s find the closest approximation to that where you’ll feel the safest, where you don’t have to worry about if you reach out and hold your partner’s hand,’” she said.
It’s all about saying, ‘I understand the experience you want to have. Let’s find the closest approximation to that where you’ll feel the safest, where you don’t have to worry about if you reach out and hold your partner’s hand.’
Carrie Millunzi, owner of Carrie M Travel, a Travel Experts affiliate in Charlotte, N.C., points out that the need for education doesn’t just apply to travelers; advisors should also inform suppliers about their clients’ expectations.
“I have clients who have family members of different races and ethnicities,” she said. “I try to remind suppliers of this, so they are not ‘surprised’ by a family’s makeup upon meeting. The same would be true of LGBTQ clients, so I can be sure that suppliers know the proper pronouns to use and if terms such as partner versus husband or wife are preferred.”
The Effect of Politics on Travel
Travel advisors serving the LGBTQ+ market must also stay on top of the political climate and its potential effect on some destinations. When Ambrusko-Maida’s agency began selling last year’s Gays With Kids spring break event at Universal Orlando Resort, for example, some of her clients decided not to attend, because of recent anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in the state.
While Universal and Disney are welcoming, a lot of things were going on in Florida, and there were families that didn’t want to go, because they didn’t want to spend their money in Florida.
“While Universal and Disney are welcoming, a lot of things were going on in Florida, and there were families that didn’t want to go, because they didn’t want to spend their money in Florida,” she said. “I totally understand that. But what the event let us do was to have a lot of families in Florida join us, because they were so happy that we came and that we were showing the face of gay dad families — showing they were like everybody else, and they just want to take their kids to Universal.”
Anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in Tennessee, meanwhile, has resulted in fewer bookings for Dollywood, the amusement park in Tennessee that’s partly owned by Dolly Parton, a country music singer with a dedicated LGBTQ+ following.
“We’ve had to shift away from Dollywood,” Ambrusko-Maida said. “I’m not eliminating it completely, but I’m not recommending it for our Gays With Kids group or any LGBTQ families at the moment. It’s sad, because Dolly is obviously a fantastic humanitarian and a gay icon, but I can’t send LGBTQ families to Tennessee right now in good conscience.”
It all comes down to balancing a client’s desires and the realities of the world today.
“Selling LGBTQ travel means really staying on top of what’s going to be awesome for your [clients],” Ambrusko-Maida said. “But it’s also about what’s going on with legislation, with laws and the general sentiment around LGBTQ families.”
