GPTMC, other urban destinations attract LGBT community online

Courting gay travelers is old hat for tourist agencies. What’s new is that now the courting is moving increasingly online.
In partnership with the the Greater Philadelphia Tourism and Marketing Corp., Southwest Airlines announced earlier this week that it launched Southwest.com/gayphilly, considered the first airline landing page for a gay destination, as first reported by the Inquirer. The GPTMC is giving away six free trips to Philly in a contest that, while featured in print advertisements, is almost otherwise entirely being promoted online, housed at gophila.com/gayphilly.
It may the first so Web-heavy advertising blitz directed at the gay community by the GPTMC, but it is certainly not the firsT — insert mildly euphemistic pun on the City of Brotherly Love.
In November 2003, GPTMC decided the city’s culture, history, nightlife and dining, packaged with the famed gayborhood could make Philly a top-tier destination for the LGBTQ community. So born was the popular “Get your History Straight and your Nightlife Gay” promotional campaign.
By most accounts, that proved productive. In January the annual study of gay destinations by Community Marketing showed Philadelphia was considered a “top-of-mind” travel location for members of the LGBT community — important considering the $54 billion they spend annually in travel.
“We weren’t on any gay destination list in 2003. We were considered number 16 in 2006 to this year being called 13,” said Bruce Yelk, the director of gay marketing for GPTMC. “It’s about being authentic. Several years ago – before maybe any other city – we took very seriously approaching the gay community honestly and showing them how wonderful and welcoming Philadelphia can be.”
With Philly jumping spots and other cities, like Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and New Orleans, trumping up their own catering to gay travelers, suddenly the old standards are getting nervous. This week, New York City launched its Rainbow Pilgrammage campaign, aiming to vie for its role as the country’s elite gay travel spot – a title it has been losing of late.
Now, the battlegrounds have moved online.
New York’s Rainbow Pilgrammage focuses on the city’s role in the gay rights movement – a movement which, we’ll kindly remind our readers, began in Philadelphia – with a recount online, and the promotional campaign is using niche Web sites as a primary vehicle for advertising.
Indeed, since the 2003 beginning of GPTMC’s active soliciting of gay travelers, Yelk says the online presence has changed dramatically. The conceptualization of banner ads, from narrow and static to bold and rotating, and the use of targeted Web sites for advertising have all grown rapidly in the competitve hunt for gay tourists.
“It’s clear that all marketing dollars are going to online…especially for the LGBT community,” he said. “We find that our videos and promotional materials that cater to gay consumers are better viewed. They are more likely to explore the site.”
He points to a trend of better education and tech interest in gay communities, making the online world a smart way to attract the demographic.
“If anyone, gay or not, wants great dining, great museums, cultural experiences, you’re not going to get it in Miami or Fort Lauderdale,” Yelk said. “I think the gay community recognizes that.”
Let’s hope the GPTMC is right — and that their experienced courting of gay travelers continues to be as entertaining as the June 2004 Daily Show appearance by GPTMC president Meryl Levitz, not long after the agency first forayed into gay promotion.