When it comes to travel, gay men rank New York City (left) at the top, while lesbians prefer Las Vegas. |
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — New York City continues to rank as the number one destination for U.S. gay men, followed by Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles, according to a recently released research study by Community Marketing, Inc. (CMI). New York City came out on top in all three categories: leisure/vacation, business and personal (visits to family/friends) travel in this study.
Community Marketing’s LGBT tourism research report, the largest of its kind, based on more than 6,700 US survey responses, also revealed that 98 percent of survey respondents took at least one overnight trip in the last year, with 84 percent visiting at least one of the 22 US destinations polled.
The study found that gay and lesbian travel preferences vary greatly by gender and age. “New York has consistently ranked as the number one destination over the last 11 years,” says Thomas Roth, president of Community Marketing, Inc.
New York City is ranked number one by gay men, yet it ranks number three among lesbian respondents, who ranked Las Vegas number one, followed by San Francisco, New York City and Provincetown. “We’ve doubled the number of lesbians who completed the survey in each of the last two years, giving us far more information about this increasingly important market segment,” Roth said.
Age differences are equally striking. Gen X/Y gay men tend to visit traditional urban areas, including New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago, while senior gay men opt for gay resort areas like Palm Springs and Fort Lauderdale. Older lesbians are more likely to visit Palm Springs and Provincetown, while younger lesbians visit Orlando or one of the major urban destinations.
It is significant that 71 percent of lesbians and gay men have a valid passport, and that 68 percent of the gay men and 57 percent of the lesbians surveyed used their passport to travel internationally in the last year. Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy (in that order) are the most visited countries. Gay men are more likely to have visited Europe, while lesbian respondents favor Mexico.
The survey also asked what destinations respondents would be likely to visit in the coming year. New Orleans, though still not up to pre-Katrina levels, shows an expected increase of 86 percent for the next year (over actual travel during the last 12 months), the highest increase for domestic destinations, and the Greater Phoenix area shows a 79 percent expected increase, indicating that recent marketing outreach to the LGBT community by Phoenix, Tempe and Scottsdale is working.
These findings are derived from Community Marketing’s 11th Annual Gay & Lesbian Travel Survey, a comprehensive tourism research report based on a sample size of more than 7,500 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender respondents. The survey includes: top LGBT destinations, information on travel spending by gay travelers; the travel preferences and motivations of gay and lesbian travelers; comparisons within the “gay market” such as gay men vs. lesbians, age, income, nationality and trend forecasts. It is based on eleven years of consistent LGBT travel market monitoring. |
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