Gay travel
by June 8, 2011 8:24 am 56 views
Members of America’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities plan to travel more and spend more during the summer than in 2010, according to a new survey by Harris Interactive and Witeck-Combs Communications.
Roughly two-thirds (65%) of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) adults plan to take a leisure trip between May and August of this year. This represents a slight improvement in travel intentions — last summer 60% had leisure travel plans.
There was also a slight uptick in business travel intentions this summer versus last, with 18% of LGBT adults planing to take a business trip between May and August this year compared to 15% last year.
Not only are gay Americans more likely to travel this summer than last, those who are traveling are planning to spend more money. LGBT adults report on average they are likely to spend about $1,300 between May and August 2011 for their leisure or business travel, while during the same time period last year, the average planned travel expenditure was $1,058.
“Make no mistake; gay households, like all others, are experiencing real changes in their household budgets, plans and travel expectations. Coming out of the past economic downturn has been costly for all consumers, including LGBT travelers,” Bob Witeck, CEO of Witeck-Combs Communications, said in a statement. “We see their resilience and desire to travel again this year as evidence of more optimism combined with their ingrained travel habits and needs."
The nationwide survey of 2,576 U.S. adults, (ages 18 and over), of whom 331 self identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual and/or transgender, was conducted between April 11 and 18, 2011, by Harris Interactive, a global market research and consulting firm.
More than 7 out of 10 (72%) LGBT adults will take more (9%) or the same number (63%) of leisure trips by car this summer.
Among LGBT adults, more than 7 out of 10 (72%) plan to increase (12%) or maintain (60%) the number of weekend leisure trips they will take this summer. Three-quarters (75%) indicate that their leisure trips will be longer (2%) or the same length as last summer (73%).