Pioneering LGBTQ Travel

The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau (GFLCVB) is a pioneer in reaching out to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender market.

Richard Gray, the CVB’s managing director-LGBTQ market, has been at the forefront of this campaign since 1996.

“I was a Wall Streeter who left New York to open and run the Royal Palms hotel in Fort Lauderdale. I was one of only a handful of openly gay hoteliers in the region—even though the destination was popular with the gay community even then,” Gray said.

“In that capacity, I approached the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau and proposed a relatively small budget to attract gay travelers. The CVB saw the potential, and we were off and running with a rainbow campaign that began to build our reputation and attract LGBT visitors. From there, I became the first—and only—CVB director of LGBTQ marketing in the world.”

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Today, the GFCVB’s LGBTQ marketing budget exceeds $1 million.

“We say $1.5 million annually, but I think it’s much more than that, especially since we are now attracting LGBTQ conferences in addition to individual leisure travelers,” Gray said. “There’s no exact way to calculate, but one measure is the significant growth in LGBTQ owned businesses opening downtown and in Wilton Manors.”

In fact, Greater Fort Lauderdale was named “Destination of the Year” by the 2015 ManAboutWorld Editors’ Choice Awards, which recognize the best in gay travel. The group had already named Wilton Manors, dubbed the “Second Gayest City” in the US after the 2010 census, the 2013 “Gayborhood of the Year”.

More recently, the GFLCVB has been reaching out to the transgender community.

“To be honest, even as a gay man, I didn’t know a lot about transgender people. We are a very inclusive and diverse community that welcomes all travelers, and we realized we needed to be better educated and understand the travel needs of the transgender community,” Gray said.

“Being well informed is critical to attracting consumers from various cultural and community backgrounds. This led to the first-ever survey of transgender travelers in North America to get a better sense of their needs.”

The GFLCVB then organized and facilitated roundtable discussions with community leaders throughout the US as well as in Fort Lauderdale, and hosted site visits for transgender social media influencers and journalists.

“We are the only destination with a landing page dedicated to the transgender community, sunny.org/tlgb, putting the important ‘T’ first,” Gray said. “Greater Fort Lauderdale was recognized by the United Nations for being the global leader in this area.”

Earlier this year, the GFLCVB launched a new global marketing and advertising campaign featuring three transgender models, becoming the first destination to use transgender models in mainstream destination advertising.

The response was “wonderful,” Gray said. “We got a lot of publicity and exposure and tremendous feedback from the LGBTQ and transgender community. Our leading-edge trans initiative has helped from both a business and a human perspective. Companies want to do business with progressive travel destinations, and no one is even coming close to what we are doing.”

As part of its commitment to the transgender segment, Fort Lauderdale hosted the Southern Comfort Conference for the third time. The conference is billed as the largest assembly of transgender people, researchers, educators, therapists, doctors and LGBTQ organizations in the world.

“It was quite a coup to woo the conference away from Atlanta, where it had been for 24 years. I’m pleased that they have decided to come back for 2018, and I hope we will be their permanent home,” Gray said.

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“It’s a three-day event that welcomes hundreds of attendees in mid-September, a time when this helps our economy, hotel occupancy and visitor numbers. More importantly, it speaks to the strong partnership we have developed with the conference organizers and participants and the trust they have with us. This conference is important to support the common interests and provide invaluable resources for the transgender community.”

What should travel agents know about sending LGBTQ clients to the Fort Lauderdale area?

“Most of all, they should know their clients will be in a warm, welcoming environment where there is lots to do for both gay and straight interests,” Gray said.

“Because of our marketing efforts and identity, visitors know we stand for diversity and welcome visitors from all over the world, regardless of sexual orientation, religion, gender, race or nationality. LGBTQ interests are mainstream traveler interests as well—shopping, including the ‘gayborhood’ of Wilton Manors, upscale boutiques and designer shopping outlets at Sawgrass Mills, dining and wonderful beaches.”

Some of the other highlights agents can recommend to LGBTQ clients include the World AIDS Museum & Educational Center and the Stonewall National Museum & Archives.

“These are the most important and iconic LGBTQ attractions—the World AIDS Museum is the first of its kind. The Stonewall museum is one of the only permanent spaces in the US devoted to exhibitions related to LGBTQ history and culture,” Gray said.

“Both museums surprise a lot of people who wouldn’t expect to find them here. The GFCVB’s website lists more than 30 gay-friendly, -owned and -operated bars, lounges, attractions and entertainment venues. There is no shortage of attractions for the LGBTQ visitor.”

For more information, visit sunny.org/lgbtq.