Organisers of a London travel expo are calling on tourism industry staff to support a global survey measuring the sector’s attitudes towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) travellers.
Reed Travel Exhibition’s World Travel Market (WTM) London has partnered with LGBT consulting firm, Out Now, to launch the online survey of tourism industry staff.
The organiser says it is the first industry-wide study of attitudes towards the LGBT tourism market.
Survey results will be presented as part of the WTM's conference programme, November 2-5 at London ExCeL.
Figures from Out Now reveal that LGBT consumers spent US$202bn in 2014.
Out Now chief executive Ian Johnson said the survey's results would be both important and timely.
“We have known for more than two decades what the metrics of LGBT travel are from the consumer side, but not from the industry’s perspective,” he said.
“The tourism industry has evolved dramatically in recent years with more destinations, hotels, airlines, agents, and other industry players wanting to engage with LGBT travel.
“What is needed though is a better understanding of how the industry views this market, and what is needed by the industry to better engage with this group of travellers,” he said.
WTM senior director, Simon Press said: “World Travel Market has been a long-term supporter of the global development of LGBT tourism in partnership with Out Now.”
“2015 is our tenth year of collaborating together and we are delighted to work on this new industry-wide initiative with Out Now, to shine light onto this important part of the global travel business,” he added.
The confidential survey will measure factors driving the development of the LGBT travel segment, including staff training, media usage, barriers and future trends.
