Rapidly changing tourism industry is recognizing the influence of gay and lesbian travelers in the market share and now the industry is customizing itself with the gay community and gay tourism campaigns.
In the last few years, gay vacationers have been lured by numerous gay-friendly travel options. Top gay travel destinations, which include Canada, Mexico, UK, France, Italy, Germany and Netherlands, have gained popularity amazingly in the last few years.
In America alone gay travelers represent a USD 65 billion travel market. The US Dept. of Commerce assumes that gays and lesbians make up a conservative 5% of the travel industry figure.
Many companies in the travel industry have become aware of the ample money (also known as “pink money”) generated by gay community.
According to a survey conducted in 2000 by Tourism Intelligence International, about 10% of international tourists were gay or lesbians, which account for more than 70 million arrivals worldwide. The industry observers say that this market share is likely to grow because of a change in worldwide attitudes to homosexuality.
