7 key LGBT markets likely to add at least $4billion additional tourism income to US economy during next three years
The US Supreme Court Decision to legalise gay marriage is set to see the American economy benefit from an influx of 1.3 million LGBT tourists spending USD$4.25 billion over the next three years, reveals analysis of the world’s largest LGBT market research data set – Out Now Global LGBT2030 Study www.lgbt2030.com.
The current dynamic nature of this sector has motivated Out Now and World Travel Market, the leading global event for the travel industry, to launch a new study – measuring, for the first time, the global tourism industry’s attitudes to LGBT travel. The Global LGBT Travel Industry Survey is now underway at the website www.Welcome.LGBT and is open for all people working in the travel industry globally.
The US Supreme Court’s decision to legalise marriage for gay and lesbian people across America can be expected to increase LGBT tourism by a minimum of 9% over the next three years, adding at least USD$4.25billion to the total income generated by international LGBT tourism visitors into the USA.
Latest LGBT2030 research asked respondents the following question:“When you choose where to travel, to what extent can the legal situation for local LGBT people affect where you decide to go to spend your holiday/vacation?”
Out Now has analysed US inbound travel results for seven key countries and limited its assessment to only those respondents who indicated that the local legal situation affects their travel plans “to a great extent” and who also indicated an intention to visit the USA during the coming three years. Results were then discounted further to allow for the 37 US states which already had marriage equivalence, prior to last week’s Supreme Court decision. The resulting figures are therefore somewhat conservative, as well as being substantial.
Key findings are as follows:
| VISIT USA: NEXT 3 YRS | USD$ increase (millions) | Visitor numbers (000’s) |
| UK | 550 | 168 |
| Germany | 660 | 216 |
| France | 730 | 211 |
| Italy | 350 | 124 |
| Brazil | 1,280 | 465 |
| Canada | 360 | 99 |
| Australia | 320 | 57 |
| TOTAL | 4,250 | 1,340 |
Data source: Out Now Global LGBT2030 Study
According to Out Now, CEO, Ian Johnson, the data shows clearly that marriage equality is not only a social issue, but also an economic one as well.Data source: Out Now Global LGBT2030 Study
“LGBT people have been increasingly voting with their wallets when it comes to global tourism,” Johnson says: “In measuring the likely impacts of the US Supreme Court’s decision, we have been conservative with these calculations, so this data represents a minimum estimate of the economic benefits that will likely flow into the US economy. In each of the seven countries we measured, there was a resulting increase in total likely LGBT visitors of between 9% – 11%. We only counted those respondents stating that a destination’s local legal situation affects their travel plans “to a great extent”.
“There are almost as many respondents again who indicate a “moderate” effect on their travel plans. This new data being reported today – which is conservative in analysis as well as being substantial in scale – shows that giving LGBT people full equality is not only a social issue, it can have substantial economic benefits as well. There are a lot of new US tourism jobs that are going to be created in the next three years as a direct result of last week’s decision. No matter where people stand on the issue of marriage equality, the simple fact is that this is definitely a strong boost for jobs and for the US economy. We expect at least 1.3 million additional LGBT visitors to choose to vacation in the US over the coming three years as a direct result of the equalisation of this legal situation for local LGBT people – and these tourists will spend at least USD$4.25billion during that period. The court’s decision is one that the US tourism industry should be very thankful for.”
World Travel Market, Senior Director, Simon Press, said: “The study’s findings that more than 1.3m extra tourists will be spending at least $4.25 billion over the next three years demonstrates the benefit of a destination being LGBT-friendly.
“World Travel Market has had a focus on the LGBT tourism market for the past decade, with educational seminars and a dedicated region on the exhibition floor.
“I look forward to the first-ever global LGBT Travel Industry Survey www.Welcome.LGBT being unveiled at World Travel Market 2015. We are gathering data over the next few weeks and ask travel industry professionals to please take just a few minutes to complete this important survey. The findings of the survey could shape LGBT travel for the next 10 years.”
To participate in the new Global LGBT Travel Industry Survey, visit Welcome.LGBT
-ends-
MORE INFORMATION:
WTM Portfolio, Press & PR Manager Paul Nelson paul.nelson@reedexpo.co.uk
Out Now, Communications Specialist, Susann Jerry press@outnowconsulting.com
About World Travel Market
World Travel Market, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend four-day business-to-business exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry. Almost 51,500 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international press, embark on ExCeL – London every November to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry opinion and trends at WTM. WTM, now in its 36th year, is the event where the travel industry conducts and concludes its deals. WTM 2014 will facilitate £2.5 billion of travel industry contracts. World Travel Market is part of Reed Travel Exhibition’s WTM portfolio, which also includes Arabian Travel Market, World Travel Market Latin America and World Travel Market Africa. www.wtmlondon.com
WTM Portfolio
The World Travel Market Portfolio is comprised of the leading leisure travel events in the world; World Travel Market in London, WTM Latin America in Sao Paulo, WTM Africa in Cape Town and Arabian Travel Market in Dubai. The WTM Portfolio’s events are attended by the global travel and tourism industry’s senior executives to conduct business deals and discover the latest research, insight and opinion. In 2014, the WTM Portfolio facilitated around $7 billion in industry deals from negotiations between the more than 15,000 buyers, 9,500 exhibitors (1,500 main stand holders and 8,000 stand sharers) in attendance of its four events. WTM is owned by the worldʼs leading events organiser Reed Exhibitions. www.wtmworld.com
About Reed Exhibitions
Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events organiser, with over 500 events in 43 countries. In 2014 Reed brought together over seven million event participants from around the world generating billions of dollars in business. Today Reed events are held throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa and organised by 41 fully staffed offices. Reed Exhibitions serves 43 industry sectors with trade and consumer events. It is part of the RELX Group plc, a world-leading provider of information solutions for professional customers across industries.
About Out Now
The world’s premier LGBT business organization is Out Now http://www.outnowconsulting.com . Established in 1992 in Australia, Out Now has grown to now reach more than 20 markets worldwide. Its work covers strategy, communications and training http://www.Learn.LGBT as well as managing the world’s largest and most extensive LGBT market research program LGBT2030 www.LGBT2030.com . Many of the world’s leading brands including VisitMexico, Hilton Hotels and German National Tourist Office, Lufthansa, visitBerlin, Stockholm Visitors Board, VisitHelsinki, VisitBritain, IBM, Volvo, Toyota, Citibank, Barclays Bank, Time Inc Magazines, Doubleday Books and Merck rely upon Out Now Global. The agency also provides the world’s best LGBT tourism business networking program: Out Now Business Class http://www.OutNowBusinessClass.com . More information? Visit http://www.OutNow.LGBT