As Pride events start to take place across the globe this month, US travel intelligence company Skift, has taken a look at how a few brands positioned their online video campaigns targeting LGBTQ+ travellers.
Commonly referred to as the Pink Pound or Pink Dollar, the LGBTQ+ market represents a significant share of global tourism spend, with the US its largest source. Just this year tourism spend by the LGBTQ+ market is predicted to exceed $200 billion, an eye popping figure released during the World Travel Market in London last year.
So Airlines, tourism boards, hotels, and booking tools have all prepared for the “Pride season” with campaigns that cater to this appealing market. Here’s a look at some of our favourite ones.
Visit Toronto’s “What Pride means to us”
Several local personalities from the LGBTQ+ community talk about their inspiration and milestones of the movement. According to Skift this video generated 50 times more views than Visit Toronto’s overall 15,300 views/video average.
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority “The Check Out”
Expanding on the “whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” motto, the Las Vegas authority targets LGBTQ+ travellers with a clever advertorial spot entitled “The Check Out”. The video apparently garnered 45,745 views, 148 times more than their normal average of 309 views/video, attesting that a little humour does indeed go a long way.
Tourisme Montreal’s “Montreal Boy: Some Strings Attached”
Tourisme Montreal collaborated with LogoTV and Air Canada to create a six-part web series depicting a gay couple’s long distance relationship between Montreal and New York. Although no YouTube statistics are available, this web series is noteworthy to mention solely on the basis of its great storytelling.
Marriot’s “#LoveTravels”
“#LoveTravels” is a cohesive new campaign by hotel chain Marriott featuring eight different personal stories from across the LGBTQ+ community. The behind the scenes video for this campaign is now close to 10,000 views beating Marriott’s 2,350 views/video average by a staggering 425%!