Hotels to Promote Friendly Accommodations for Pride Celebrations

BY Rachel Cagle
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With April acting as the unofficial kick off to Pride season, recognized annually and internationally throughout June, now is the perfect time to start planning a trip around the upcoming 2019 Pride festivities. Travelers planning a trip to celebrated Pride destinations including Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C., San Francisco and New York City can browse hotels, booking tips and itineraries.

According to recent data from Orbitz, a long proponent of LGBTQ+ travel and the first online travel company to launch a microsite dedicated to gay and lesbian travel more than a decade ago, hotel searches for Pride weekends have already increased by more than double digits when compared to 2018, along with a significant increase in flight searches and Pride package considerations. In fact, when asked directly in an online survey, 79% of LGBTQ travelers plan to attend this year's Pride events with a group. Hotels (57%) and car shares (54%) are the travel accommodations most likely to be booked for Pride celebrations in 2019.

"More travelers than ever before will be celebrating love and equality in some of the most gay-​friendly cities across the country this year," said Carey Malloy, Director of Brand Marketing for Orbitz Brand. "With this being a milestone year for Pride, our message to travelers is now is the time to plan your trip while accommodations are in high demand."

Nearly half of respondents confirmed they plan to travel between five and 50 miles for a Pride event in 2019, and 42% plan to travel more than 50 miles. Three in four (74%) of LGBTQ travelers also said that knowing whether a destination is Pride-​friendly impacts their decision on where to travel.

That's not all that's impacting their choices. According to AudienceSCAN, the highest percentage (29.9%) of the LGBT community is between the ages of 17 and 24, earning average household incomes of under $25,000 (31.2%). It's the goal of 40.3% to reduce debt and save more. So, it's not overly surprising that, in the last month, 45.3% have used the internet to find coupons or discount codes and, over the last six months, 28.7% have used a mobile device to redeem or download a coupon. Within the last year, 37.2% of this audience were driven to action by ads they found on daily deals sites such as Groupon.

Highlights from Orbitz's Pride-​Friendly Travel Survey:

  • Social media (82%) and feedback from friends, family and peers (69%) are the main sources from which LGBTQ travelers are most likely to hear about Pride events
  • Nearly three in four (74%) Pride travelers say knowing whether or not a place is LGBTQ+ friendly impacts their decision to travel there
  • 67% of LGBTQ travelers say the experience is the most important consideration when traveling for Pride; while 17% say its location and 10% are most cognizant of price
  • LGBTQ travelers are looking for the best Pride discounts and deals; nearly one in three (30%) are looking to spend less than $100 on travel and accommodations
  • Hotels (57%) and ride or car shares (54%) are the travel accommodations most likely to be booked for 2019 Pride events
  • Nearly half of LGBTQ travelers (47%) will travel between five and 50 miles for a Pride event in 2019, and 42% will travel more than 50 miles
  • Pride travelers are split on where to sit; more than half (53%) would rather get front row at the Pride parade while 47% would rather travel first class for Pride
  • Approximately 79% of Pride travelers are planning to attend this year's events with a group, with most wanting to attend with their best friend (81%)
  • Nearly half (47%) of LGBTQ travelers expressed that their ex is the companion they would least want to go with to Pride

Travel-​based companies can appeal to the LGBT community through many forms of advertising this Pride season. Last year, according to AudienceSCAN, 60.6% took action after seeing a TV commercial and 43.7% reacted to ads they saw in both digital and print newspapers. They're also 29% more likely than other adults to find advertising on social media useful. Also within the last year, 46.4% reacted to email ads they received and 42.4% were driven to action after seeing either an ad on their mobile smartphone apps or receiving an ad via text.

AudienceSCAN data is available for your applications and dashboards through the SalesFuel API. Media companies and agencies can access AudienceSCAN data through the AudienceSCAN Reports in AdMall.


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