I was pleasantly surprised recently to read a news brief in the Advocate noting that this weekend’s New York Times Travel Show would, for the first time, include a LGBT travel pavilion. The five-line brief noted that the pavilion will offer executive discounts, advice and on-site booking.
Knowing that gays and lesbians are a key market for the travel industry, I wanted to find out more about the specifics on the offerings during the show. So, I went to the NYT Travel Show site only to find nothing specific to the new pavilion on the home page. I even searched the exhibit floor plan site for keywords “gay” “LGBT” and “GLBT.” Still no luck.
I finally searched the show’s full Website and eventually found the seminar page with a March 1 afternoon panel discussion on “Gay Travel: Hot New Destinations, Events, Tours and Cruises.” The presentation looked appealing with presenters including Jeff Guaracino of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, who was featured on our site, and About.com’s Andrew Collins.
I keyword-searched in vain to find any other LGBT, GLBT, gay or lesbian sessions on the site. No luck.
Thinking it must be an issue with the site’s search engine, I Googled the show and keywords “gay” which turned up the Advocate.com article I had seen and an Out Traveler news brief about its Editor in Chief Ed Salvato moderating the aforementioned gay travel panel discussion.
Googling the travel show and GLBT, I did find the New York Times press release announcing the show and incorporating the bullet item below:
- GLBT Travel Pavilion. PlanetOut Inc. sponsors this pavilion catering to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender travelers. Learn about the hottest destinations and the best way to get there for GLBT singles, couples and families.
No wonder the Advocate news brief was only five lines with that little information.
Needless to say, despite being optimistic that our community was finally being recognized at the show, I was quite underwhelmed by the lack of NYT publicity surrounding the new – and long overdue – addition to its program.
As we’ve said many times on this site, the gay and lesbian traveler is a gold mine for the tourism industry. It’s no secret in the industry itself.
Going back to the NYT Travel Show site, I happened onto a page of demographics about the 2007 show. It included all the right selling features for prospective attendees, sponsors and exhibitors alike, e.g. good household income, nice target age range etc. However, I was surprised – and a little irritated – to see that the pie chart on relationship status was broken into two categories: single and married.
Was there no category for “domestic partner” or even “partnered” in last year’s survey of attendees? And this is from the same New York Times that went beyond the pale and pioneered same-sex union announcements on its editorial pages a few years ago.
What’s wrong with this picture? I know the editorial department execs are not the same people organizing this travel show, but shouldn’t there be at least a touch of consistency in these two arms of the New York Times Company?
As we’ve noted endlessly on our blog, the gay and lesbian consumer is loyal to companies that not only market to them but are fully engaged in our community and our issues. That includes subtle but important actions like including “domestic partner” in demographic surveys. It also includes presenting a corporation’s gay/lesbian-friendly culture in a united and consistent manner.
We are a sophisticated consumer market. When companies are communicating with us, they should be sure to effectively reach us with consistency in their words, their images and their actions. That said, I won’t be in New York this weekend but I fully intend to check on post-New York Times Travel Show announcements as well as plans and attendee data next year.
SUBSCRIBE