Gay times in New Orleans

By James Stone

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Hurricane-hit New Orleans is to boost its flagging tourist industry in a novel way, it has emerged - by appealing to the gay travel market. Now call me naïve, but I had never really considered that a gay travel market even existed. I'd always thought holidays were divided into categories like location, or activities, for example. How wrong you can be. For, on closer inspection (well, not too close), it appears that the gay travel industry is not only up and running but positively booming, with market analysts Mintel estimating its worth around £658 million a year.

First off, it appears that a distinction needs to be made between the gay travel market and the travel market for gay people. Confusing, I know, but we must forge on regardless. Apparently, gay travel involves going to a gay destination specifically because a person is gay, while travel for gay people is merely the act of gay people going on holiday. But the good news for gay travel operators is that although their business is split into two, the average gay man earns slightly more than his heterosexual counterpart, so will have more income at his disposal.

However, despite this so-far positive appraisal of the gay travel industry (industry booming, gay men have lots of money to spend etc), it seems that a large proportion of the market remains untapped. Further Mintel figures suggest only four per cent of gay people choose to travel with a gay-only operator, meaning the overwhelming majority probably opt for the tried and trusted location/activity method of determining their holiday destination. This is surprising, given that Carl Catterall, head of marketing and PR at Britain's leading travel company for gay men, Man Around, believes there is still a stigma attached to gay travel, which makes gay people reluctant to discuss the finer points of their holiday plans with traditional travel agents.

Yet this stigma is starting to disappear, according to Mr Catterall - especially given the aforementioned stat about gay men earning more money than straight men.

"We used to be the bottom of the pile – 'Oh, it's the end of September, we'll let the gays in'," he told the Metro.

"Now, we're at the top of the pile. We can now say: 'We have money to spend, persuade us to spend it with you.'"

This is clearly why New Orleans has jumped on the gay travel bandwagon, particularly as the tourism industry in the area has suffered since Katrina devastated the city back in 2005. A new guide is being published by the New Orleans Tourism and Marketing Corporation together with advertising agency Altus Group, specifically aimed at gay and lesbian travellers. The 30-page booklet, due to be released in late May, will cover traditional gay hotspots including Mardi Gras, Southern Decadence and Halloween, as well as providing information on the city's gay-friendly bars, bookstores and community centres.

The fact this is the first such guide to be produced by the New Orleans Tourism and Marketing Corporation is proof that the gay travel industry has come a long way - especially as, according to Mr Catterall, the typical gay holiday in the 1970s and 1980s involved "gay hotels in Blackpool with no numbers on the front door and everyone leaving their doors open". Hurricane Katrina or no Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans sounds the better option.