The benefits of an LGBT-inclusive tourist destination

Highlights

• Focuses on urban tourists within various affiliations to the LGBT community.

• Gay friendliness is related to positive appreciation by all tourists.

• A terror attack does not reduce tourists' safety perceptions.

• Gay friendliness appears to be a factor in maintaining safety perceptions.

Abstract

This study investigates the links between a destination's gay-friendliness and the travel preferences of tourists with different levels of affiliation with the LGBT community. Overseas tourists to Tel Aviv (Israel) participated in two surveys: during LGBT Pride events (n = 168) and two months later (n = 117). Due to a terror attack, the before-and-after effects of safety perceptions and gay-friendliness were also tested. Analyzing responses of tourists with different levels of affiliation with the LGBT community revealed that the on-going inclusive policy of the city raises positive attitudes among all inbound tourists (regardless of their level of affiliation with the LGBT community) and that LGBT tourists do not spend more money than tourists who are not LGBT. Unexpected risk mitigation effects of gay-friendliness were observed, when all tourists linked gay-friendliness to safety perceptions, and perceived Tel Aviv as a safe place, even after a terror attack. This finding suggests that gay-friendliness is an asset in building resilience for urban destinations, even in unstable geo-political regions.

Introduction

LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) tourism is considered a significant market segment, accounting for more than an estimated 6% of the global tourism market (Out Now, 2012). Pride parades, originally protest marches for LGBT legal and political rights that began in the United States in the 1970s, have developed into events and festivals that more-broadly celebrate LGBT culture, although significant rights dimensions still remain. Some 900 Pride parades are held annually around the world (Pride United, 2015) and are widely regarded as a major positive economic impact of LGBT tourism on destinations (Johnston, 2005). The potential economic significance of the LGBT tourism market has caught the attention of researchers, destination marketing organizations and tourism businesses, accentuating the perception of the LGBT community as a lucrative market, while also indicating the special needs of the LGBTs, especially concerning their need for inclusion and feelings of safety (Guaracino & Salvato, 2017; Vorobjovas-Pinta & Hardy, 2016).

Vorobjovas-Pinta and Hardy (2016) argue that current knowledge of LGBT tourism overlooks the societal transformations and legal developments that have affected the very circumstances of LGBT tourism. A literature review of the Scopus database supports Vorobjovas-Pinta and Hardy’s (2016) conclusion: although 50 papers that contained the key words ‘gay’ AND ‘tourism’ AND ‘survey/empirical’ were found, most of them focused on demand and supply dimensions and do not address wider social issues, as is clear in Table 1.

The present study therefore seeks to explore issues beyond the demand/supply aspects of LGBT tourism and shed light on the general context of LGBT vis-à-vis non-LGBT tourists in an urban destination. An important part of this study is to highlight the way in which Pride parades and festivals are part of the changing nature of sexual-spatial relations through the way in which they have become part of urban place promotion and marketing as opposed to the more historical representation of LGBT space as being highly constrained (Gorman-Murray & Nash, 2014).

The city of Tel-Aviv, Israel has demonstrated a gay-friendly agenda for at least a decade. One of its most conspicuous achievements is the LGBT Community Center, which is located in the heart of Tel Aviv and is operated and funded exclusively by the municipality (Hartal, 2015; Misgav, 2015). Since 2007, Tel Aviv's city administration has been involved in all aspects of the organization, financing, and promotion of the Tel Aviv Pride Parade (Kama, 2011). Tel Aviv actually celebrates Pride prior to the parade when the city's main streets are cladded with rainbow flags (the international symbol of the LGBT community) weeks in advance. Unlike many other cities, Tel Aviv does not have a specific LGBT neighborhood or village: instead, the legalization of homosexuality in Israel has helped create a situation in which the city destination as a whole is seen as LBGT friendly. In this context, focusing on Tel Aviv corresponds to Vorobjovas-Pinta and Hardy's (2016) call to link the gay tourism research to contemporary societal change and to analyze it through inclusive lenses. More specifically, the current study aims to investigate the relations between the gay friendliness of Tel Aviv, which is regarded as a substantial municipal asset, and the satisfaction of overseas visitors, regardless of their level of affiliation with the LGBT community.