Record membership levels for gay tourism body
Gay and Lesbian tourism Australia has reported a 40% increase in membership levels over the past six months.
It is increasingly evident that in order for the tourism industry to show their credentials of non-discrimination that membership of the national GLBT tourism body is the most productive way of registering their support, according to GALTA chairman Rod Stringer. In the last six months regional and local tourism bodies including Wide Bay Tourism, Sunshine Coast Destinations Ltd and Tourism Noosa have joined up as members. They join other tourism bodies including Gold Coast Tourism, Tourism NT, Tourism Central Australia, Margaret River Tourism, Tropical North Queensland and Tourism Whitsundays.
Many major hotel groups have recently joined including Outrigger Hotels and Resorts, Meriton serviced apartments, Hotel Grand Chancellor, 8 Hotel Group, Mint resorts and apartments, Toga Hotels and Marriott.
According to Mr Stringer, the gay and lesbian community no longer look for exclusively gay accommodation properties but seek out businesses that are gay welcoming and offer the same high quality non-discriminating service they offer all their guests.
“Whilst we welcome the genuine support from the larger organisations for promoting gay tourism in Australia we also recognise that the bulk of GALTA membership is made up of small gay and lesbian tourism related businesses that are anxious to promote their product and to connect to the community,” Mr Stringer said.
GALTA offers its membership representation at some nine national and regional gay fair days and events as well as being an inbound tourism source for international gay and lesbian visitors. In the last twelve months these events have attracted over 200,000 visitors.
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