ORLANDO—More than the eyes of the Florida Family Association were focused upon Orlando Gay Days last weekend. As reported in Central Florida broadcast and print media, although sponsored banner planes flew overhead to “warn” tourists of the presence of thousands of gay and lesbian visitors, the sea of red shirts that took over Walt Disney World’s Main Street was noted by officials and other stakeholders in the region’s economic growth.
And while Gay Days are not officially sanctioned by the Central Florida theme parks, OrlandoGayTravel.com estimates that the attractions will rake in over $13 million from last weekend’s visitors. Attendance numbers from previous years—130,000 descended upon area theme parks and satellite parties and events for Orlando Gay Days 2011— drew the attention and support of Central Florida’s preeminent tourism group, Visit Orlando, which promoted what has become one of the most attended LGBT events in the world, although not without notice from the mainstream media.
The June 1 Orlando Sentinel featured a scathing criticism of the visitors’ bureau, which the newspaper derided for having “had little to do with [the] presence” of the “tens of thousands” of LGBT tourists who came to town. “After years of ignoring gay and lesbian travelers, however, Visit Orlando is starting to make more of an effort—some say an overdue effort—to promote the nation’s leading leisure-travel destination to this niche market,” the Sentinel article said.
“Still,” the newspaper notes, “Visit Orlando doesn’t do nearly as much as many other destinations do to woo LGBT travelers, known for their above-average disposable income and propensity for travel. In recent years, gay travelers have been missing from the bureau’s marketing plans, even as it has reached out to other previously ignored niche groups, such as blacks and Latinos.
Orlando has no dedicated LGBT marketing budget and doesn’t advertise on gay-and-lesbian travel websites or at gay-pride festivals and events. Visit Orlando is a member of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association, but while it has made an effort to lure that group’s annual expo to Orlando, it doesn’t exhibit at the show.”
A new group, Converge Orlando, hopes to fill that niche and focus its marketing efforts on attracting LGBT visitors to Orlando. Officials say that Orlando Gay Travel is lobbying extensively to bring the international “Gay Games” to Central Florida by 2018.
