The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a lesbian and gay sports
tourism industry. Results revealed evidence of an extensive and growing industry
estimated to be worth $180m within the larger lesbian and gay sports industry
that is estimated to be worth $15bn. Moreover, the market is gaining increased
recognition by mainstream corporate America as an affluent and viable market.
Some of the results include: there is a large lesbian and gay sports industry;
there is a viable lesbian and gay sports travel industry; the demand for lesbian
and gay sports products has led to the creation of companies that specialise in
lesbian and gay sports travel products; lesbian and gay media give increasing
attention to sports events and travel; there is proliferation of sports
spectatorial products; and the Gay Games have had a significant impact on sports
participant and spectatorial travel.
Several definitions of ‘sports tourism’ exist in the
literature. The definition used in this study comes from the author’s
perspective of sports tourism as influenced by readings in sport tourism but
informed by the author’s sport marketing and sport management expertise.
2.
This report shows that 28 per cent of the survey participants’
income levels are above $50,000, that 21 per cent exceed $100,000, that 58 per cent
hold management positions, and that 48 per cent have college degrees. The Gay and
Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) states that the report represents a
small and wealthy segment of the population and could reinforce the argument that
lesbian and gay people do not need civil rights protection. However, these kinds of
numbers fuelled the earlier advertising rush to gain the attention, and consumer
loyalty, of this affluent market (see Baker (1997) above). Leisure activity and
discretionary spending reported including the following: 72 per cent attended live
theatre during the past year (compared to 37 per cent heterosexual people), 75 per
cent purchased a paperback (compared to 44 per cent heterosexual people) and 15 per
cent own a sport-utility vehicle (compared to 7.5 per cent heterosexual people).
3.
‘Gays Celebrate and Business Tunes In’
(1994) Fortune, 27th June, p.
14
.
4.
Pitts, B. G.
and
Graf, D.
(1995)
‘Sponsorship Recognition During Gay Games IV’
, paper presented at the annual conference of the North American
Society for Sport Management, Athens, GA, June.
5.
(1997e)
‘Part of the Sport Fabric: Strategies for the Inclusion of
Lesbian and Gay Sport Studies in Sport Management Curriculum and Research’
, paper presented at the 1996 Conference of the North American
Society for Sport Management, San Antonio, TX,
28th May-1st June.
6.
See ref. 4 above.
7.
(1997f) ‘Ten Years Later: An Analysis of the Growth
of Sport in the Lesbian and Gay Communities in America’,
manuscript in preparation,
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FA.
8.
Pitts (1997e), ref. 5 above. Although Pitts used less than half of the total
estimated 25 million lesbian and gay people in the USA, a poll conducted by
Out magazine’s Out.com Internet site found that 63 per
cent of the lesbian and gay population are physically active (see ‘GAI-Q
Out Take’ (1997) in Fitch, J. H. and Out magazine, eds,
‘Out’s Gay & Lesbian Guide to the Web’, Lycos
Press, CA, p. 93). In a reader poll, The Advocate magazine, a gay and
lesbian news magazine, reported that an unbelievable 93.6 per cent of the members of
the Log Cabin Republicans, a national gay organisation, travel abroad at least once
a year (‘The Numbers’ (1996) The Advocate, 17th
September, p. 16). However, ‘abroad’ was not defined nor was the
purpose of the travel. Therefore, while it can be concluded that a certain
percentage of the lesbian and gay population are active and travel, there is no
conclusive research.
9.
Booth, D.
and
Tatz, C.
(1997)
‘The Big Picture: Pink Dollars’
, Inside Sport: Australia’s Sporting Magazine,
June, p.
22
.
10.
Pitts (1997a), ref. 5 above.
11.
Zipter, Y.
(1988) ‘Diamonds are a Dyke’s Best
Friend’,
Firebrand Books, New York
.
12.
The first study involving lesbian and gay people in sport with a sports
business emphasis was conducted by Pitts (see ref. 5 above). This study looked at
lesbian and gay sports organisations and offered a descriptive analysis of them. It
was hoped that the study would spark interest and other research on lesbian and gay
people in sport from a sports business perspective. That has not yet happened. To
date, to the author’s knowledge, no one else is doing research in this area.
13.
See ref. 10 above.
14.
(1997f), ref. 7 above.
15.
See ref. 10 above.
16.
Porter, M. E.
(1985) ‘Competitive Advantage’,
The Free Press, New York
.
17.
Pitts, B. G.
and
Stotlar, D. K.
(1996) ‘Fundamentals of Sport
Marketing’,
Fitness Information Technology, Morgantown, West Virginia
.
18.
See ref. 16 above.
19.
Ibid.
20.
See ref. 1 above.
21.
(1997e), ref. 5 above.
22.
Pitts (1997f), ref. 7 above.
23.
Pitts (1988), ref. 5 above.
24.
Pitts (1997f), ref. 7 above.
25.
Winfeld, L.
and
Spielman, S.
(1995) ‘Straight Talk About Gays in the
Workplace’,
American Management Association, New York
.
26.
O’Connor, ibid.
27.
Pitts (1997e), ref. 5 above.
28.
‘How Big’s the Biz?’
(1997) USA Today, 14th February, p.
2C
.
29.
The author served as Co-Director of the Louisville Sports Alliance for nine
years. They started offering special travel prices/packages first with a local
hotel. The Days Inn downtown held a block of rooms for them and offered the
participants a special rate.
30.
See athlete registration and participation literature from each of the Gay
Games. Additionally, there is increased advertising of special travel rates for
participants of Gay Games V to be held in Amsterdam in August 1998. This information
is readily available at their Web site at http://www.dds.nl/%7Egaygames/
31.
Travel bargains and special rates offered by these organisations can be found
by looking at each event’s promotional material. Several of these
organisations are available through their Web sites. Some examples are the
International Gay and Lesbian Football Association whose Web site address is
Gaysoccer@aol.com; the Gay and Lesbian Tennis Alliance Web site is
www.kwic.net/lgb-sports/umbrella/glta.html; the Web site of the
International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics organisation is
www.kwic.net/igla.html; the Web site of the International Gay and Lesbian
Hockey Association is www.qrd.org/QRD/electronic/email/iglha; and the Web
site for the Rainbow Boating Club is http://tor-pw1.netcom.ca/%7Egreystok/RBC/html
32.
Chesnut, M.
(1997) ‘The Gay Vacation Guide’,
Carol Publishing Group, NJ
.
33.
Fitch, J. H.
(ed) (1997) ‘Out’s Gay & Lesbian
Guide to the Web’,
Lycos Press, CA
.
34.
See ref. 10 above.
35.
(1997a), ref. 10 above.
36.
Harrold, M.
(1994) ‘Corporate Sponsors Join the
Games’, in
Labrecque, L.
ed., ‘Unity: A Celebration of Gay Games IV and
Stonewall’,
Labrecque Publishing, San Francisco
, pp. 98-99.
37.
‘Total Budget: DFL 14.4 Million’
(1995) Friendship: The Quarterly Newsletter of the 1998
Amsterdam Gay Games, Summer, p.
3
.
38.
‘Aussie Gov’t Supports Gay Games Bid’
(1997) Curve, Vol. 7, No. 3,
p.
15
.
39.
The advertisement copy stated the following: ‘Coming out in
December 1997, our new city guide is a gay tourists’ Bible for
Amsterdam and Gay Games ’98’, p. 27.
40.
Ferrari, ref. 33 above.
41.
Ibid.
42.
Ibid. Wahine Week, an event offered by a company called Remote
Possibilities in Maui, Hawaii, also appears to be targeting an affluent lesbian
market. Promotional materials about Wahine Week from the company reveal that prices
for the week range from $1,379 per person double occupancy (ppdo) (that is $197 per
night per person based on the seven-night rate) to $2,959 ppdo (that is $422 per
night per person based on the seven-night rate) for suite accommodations with the
best ocean front views. The golf package is extra and prices range from $95 which
includes participation in one golf tournament to $300 which includes two rounds of
golf, five lessons and the tournament. Therefore, a couple could spend from $2,948
to $6,518, not including sales taxes, airfare, transportation or meals —
not exactly a moderately affordable vacation for many lesbian women.
43.
Angelo, E.
and
Bain, J. H.
(eds) (1997) ‘Odysseus: The International Gay
Travel Planner’,
Odysseus Enterprises, New York
.
44.
The travel books can be found in most nationwide general market bookstores,
such as Barnes and Noble, and in almost all lesbian and gay bookstores in most cities.
45.
These publications are available from the organisations and businesses at the
following addresses: Kick! is available from the International Gay and
Lesbian Football Association, 3704 Kennedy Street, Hyattsville, MD 20782;
Friendship is available from Friendship, PO Box 2837, 1000 CV Amsterdam,
Holland; Woodswomen is available from Woodswomen Adventure Travel, 25 West
Diamond Lake Road, Minneapolis, MN 55419; and Women in Motion is available
from Women in Motion, PO Box 4533, Oceanside, CA 92052-4533.
46.
For example, see books such as Mark Chesnut’s (see ref. 32 above)
‘The Gay Vacation Guide’ or resource publications such as
‘Out Magazine’s Gay & Lesbian Guide to the
Web’ (see ref. 33 above).
This information is available in a Skylink full-page advertisement found in
the June 1997 issue of The Lesbian News, p. 61. Sky-link advertisements are
also found in most other lesbian and gay media including, for example, The
Advocate, Out, Girlfriend and Curve. Advertisements
are also found in the lesbian and gay travel guide books.
51.
Both advertisements inform the reader that there are 50 spaces available in
each of the tour packages. Each offers eight nights’ accommodation,
transfers to and from airport, best available seats for Opening and Closing
Ceremonies, tickets available for parties, and a daily Dutch breakfast. The second
tour package offered in the five-star hotel adds that Robin Tyler and staff will be
escorting you on this tour.
52.
Nearly all lesbian and gay media offered guide information to spectators.
See, for example, the 14th June, 1994, issue of The Advocate, the June 1994
issue of Deneuvemagazine (now titled Curve) and the May 1994 issue
of Out.
53.
‘Girljock’ (1991) editor’s note, No. 4, p. i,
Girljock Magazine, PO Box 882723, San Francisco, CA 94188-2723.
54.
Vetrano, M.
(1994)
‘In Search of the Rugby Goddess’
, Girljock, No. 12, pp.
21-25
.
55.
For more examples of the travel companies offering travel packages and of the
variety of packages, see the lesbian and gay travel guides and magazines available
on the market.
56.
(1997b) ‘The Gay Games’, in
Pitts, B. G. (1997) ‘Course Reading Packet: Lesbian and Gay People in
Sport’, unpublished manuscript. Available from the author.
57.
ref. 5 above.
58.
Swift, E. M.
(1996)
‘On a Roll: The Road to the Top Has Been Anything But Smooth for
Rudy Galindo, U.S. Figure Skating’s First Openly Gay Champion’
, Sports Illustrated, 11th March, pp.
52-56
.
59.
Garrity and Nutt, ref. 47 above.
60.
Wulf, S.
(1996)
‘Heart of the Diver’
, Time Domestic, Vol. 145, No. 6, pp.
86-89
.
61.
(current title is Curve magazine), September/October,
pp.
40-43
.
62.
in
Budge, B.
and
Hamer, D.
, eds, ‘The Good, The Bad and The Gorgeous’,
Pandora, San Francisco
, pp. 57-77.
