“We’re really excited about the opportunities and trends discovered by this esteemed group of thought leaders. Together we can work towards shaping a more respectful and inclusive future in global tourism,” said Richard Gray, vice president, LGBTQ market for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Leveraging insights from the Greater Fort Lauderdale LGBTQ Think Tank will be essential for growing LGBTQ travel globally. This historic sharing of minds and vision was unprecedented and clearly needed, so we are happy to announce the Think Tank will take place again next year.”
The Think Tank leaders identified where LGBTQ travelers are going in the next five to 10 years, how best to reach them, and how to identify their needs. They also acknowledged the importance of identifying the diversity of the audience and how to address them.
“I’m proud of Royal Caribbean and what we’ve been able to accomplish with our diversity and sensitivity training, and we are always looking for additional ways to reach our LGBTQ employees and guests,” said David Nelson, senior portfolio analyst and chairman of LGBTQ Employee Resource Group (ERG) at Royal Caribbean. “We have discovered great opportunities at the Think Tank to build relationships and to collaborate with thanks to the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau’s global lead in the LGBTQ platform.”
China is the world’s largest LGBTQ travel market. Jacob Huang, corporate program director at Aibai Culture & Education Center in China, brought the Chinese perspective to the Think Tank.
“I’ve been working on LGBTQ travel issues for several years, and I’m really happy that I had the opportunity to participate in this global exchange of ideas,” he said. “Greater Fort Lauderdale is a destination that would have great appeal to the LGBTQ community in China because of the large LGBTQ scene and because it is home to Sawgrass Mills, one of the world’s largest outlet malls.”
Travel safety proved to be the main concern at the Think Tank. The group also agreed that the LGBTQ market needs to be better integrated into mainstream marketing across the globe.
During the discussion, the importance of employee resource groups was highlighted. These ERGs can be an asset to corporations as to where their LGBTQ employees feel comfortable traveling to. In addition, the group shared LGBTQ allies’ position on travelling to areas that are diverse and supportive of the community.
“We cannot forget that travel doesn’t just mean leisure travel, but it means corporate meetings and incentives,” said Charlie Rounds, program director at Mossier. “The goal is to make destinations more inclusive. Greater Fort Lauderdale has shown to be a clear leader in this, and will continue to do so in the future.”
