Wooing the transgender tourist – what does that mean and how do you do it? This week on Leaders of Travel, I speak to Richard Gray from Greater Fort Lauderdale in Florida.
This week, we’re going to be talking about a particular segment of the tourism market: the LGBTQ traveller.
Now, you might think that a gay traveller is just like any other traveller – they need somewhere to sleep, somewhere to eat, something to do. But it’s not always that simple. In a lot of places, gay travellers still face discrimination – and even in liberal developed countries, there can be lots of times when being gay makes travelling harder.
One destination that decided years ago that it was going to make things easier for gay travellers was Greater Fort Lauderdale in the US state of Florida. Now, I think the people there genuinely wanted to make it a welcoming place… but it’s also good business to market yourself as a destination for a considerably large segment of the tourism market.
The tourism board there even has a LGBTQ director, called Richard Gray. One of his latest initiatives is to now make Greater Fort Lauderdale an attractive destination for the transgender community in particular.
To find out how you do that – and the challenges for gay travellers, I sat down for a chat with Richard Gray.
Richard Gray there, the LGBTQ Director for the Greater Fort Lauderdale tourism board.
I hope you found that an interesting chat – that’s what I try to bring you every week.
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Next episode – well, it’s a new year and as we ring in 2016, I’ll be speaking with an expert about all the latest trends in the travel industry and the big changes we’re going to see in the coming months.
Until then, my name is Michael Turtle from the travel blog Time Travel Turtle, and you’ve been listening to Leaders of Travel.
