Jeff Guaracino - Handbook of Lgbt Tourism and Hospitality: A Guide for Business Practice

Jeff Guaracino and Ed Salvato are leaders in the LGBT travel industry. They are friends, business partners, global speakers, and thought leaders in the travel, hospitality, and publishing industries. To research this book, Guaracino and Salvato traveled to six continents, interviewed nearly a hundred industry experts and hundreds of LGBT travelers, and observed emerging trends.

JEFF GUARACINO is an expert in destination tourism marketing and large-scale events. His interest in the field of LGBT travel started in 2002, when he attended Community Marketings International LGBT Tourism and Hospitality Conference in Miami, Florida.

Serving as the vice president of communications for the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPMTC) from 2001 until 2012, he led the team that created Philadelphias groundbreaking campaign, Philadelphia Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay. That award-winning campaign set a new record for effectiveness and return on investment, and it made history with many LGBT marketing firsts, among them the debut of the worlds first television commercial for a destination for the LGBT traveler. Guaracinos work in the tourism and hospitality industry in all LGBT segments and beyond has been noted by more than fifty prestigious travel industry awards.

Guaracino went on to become the executive director of the Atlantic City Alliance, a private, nonprofit destination marketing organization for Atlantic City, New Jersey, from 2012 to 2016. The herculean challenge was to reposition Atlantic City beyond its sole reliance on gaming to a year-round resort destination and to thereby reverse the destinations dramatic tourism decline. LGBT tourism became one segment that helped Atlantic City start its comeback.

In 2016 Philadelphias Mayor Jim Kenney named Guaracino president and CEO of Welcome America, Inc., in Philadelphia. Guaracinos first book, Gay and Lesbian Tourism: The Essential Guide for Marketing, is often considered the must-have, go-to resource on LGBT tourism marketing. He writes a syndicated travel column and speaks around the world. Guaracino can be reached at LGBTexpert.com

ED SALVATO is a journalist, author, public speaker, and content expert. Having graduated from Harvard with a degree in applied mathematics and economics and from Northeastern University with an MBA in market research, Salvato began his career as a market researcher and then moved on to travel journalism, believing that both careers require the same tactics for success: gathering and analyzing data and writing insightful analyses. Since 2012 he has served as chief content officer of ManAboutWorld, the worlds number-one digital gay travel magazine for tablets and smartphones. He was previously editor in chief (from 1998 to 2004) of the groundbreaking subscription-based printed newsletter Out&About, which was the first gay travel editorial product with a consumer (rather than an advertiser) focus. In 2004 he was appointed corporate director of travel media for PlanetOut Inc., overseeing travel content at Gay.com, PlanetOut.com, OutTraveler.com, Advocate.com, Advocate magazine, and Alyson Publications (now Alyson Books). During that time he was also editor in chief of Out Traveler and a contributing editor for Out magazine. He assembles and moderates the annual consumer LGBT panel at the New York Times Travel Show and the Adventure and Travel Shows in a number of their markets, including Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia.

Copyright 2017 by Jeff Guaracino and Ed Salvato

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used, reproduced, or transmitted in any form, by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, or any other means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

E-ISBN 978-1-939-59419-8

Harrington Park Press

Box 331

9 East Eighth Street

New York, NY 10003

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Guaracino, Jeff, author. | Salvato, Ed, 1962 author.

Title: Handbook of LGBT tourism & hospitality : a guide for business practice / Jeff Guaracino, Ed Salvato.

Other titles: Handbook of LGBT tourism and hospitality | Handbook of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender tourism and hospitality

Description: New York, NY : Harrington Park Press, [2017]

Identifiers: LCCN 2016039349 (print) | LCCN 2016058875 (ebook) | ISBN 9781939594181 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781939594174 (softcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781939594198 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: GaysTravel. | TourismManagement.

Classification: LCC HQ75.25 .G833 2017 (print) | LCC HQ75.25 (ebook) | DDC 306.76/6dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016039349

A Columbia University Press E-book.

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This book is dedicated to our family, friends, mentors, and the LGBT pioneers in travel and civil rights.

The authors wish to thank the panel of experts and advisers who provided their suggestions for the best practices in the world of LGBT travel. Wed like especially to acknowledge:

Martine Ainsworth-Wells, Ainsworth & Wells (formerly Visit London/London & Partners)

Tom Alderink, Belmond

Jon Allen, Island House Resort Key West

Tracy Baim, Windy City Times

Alan Beck, FunMaps

Michael Bertetto, SLS Las Vegas (formerly with Wynn Las Vegas and Encore and R&R Partners)

Rich Campbell, Atlantis Events

Felipe Cardenas, Colombian LGBT Chamber of Commerce

Clovis Casemiro, 4 Go Travel network

Tanya Churchmuch, Much PR (formerly with Tourism Montreal)

Brad Cicero, Porter Airlines

Joe DAlessandro, San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau

Alexis Dee, Southern Comfort

Pablo DeLuca, GNetworks360

Fred Dixon, NYC & Company

Stuart Elliott, MediaVillage (formerly with the New York Times)

Alfredo Ferreyra, BUEGay Argentina

Apoorva Gandhi, Marriot International, Inc.

Gina Gatta, Damron LGBT Travel Guides

David Gonzalez, MGM Resorts International

Richard Gray, Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau

Richard Green, BestBus

Randy Griffin, Marshall Hotels (formerly with Marriott International)

Malcolm Griffiths, Development Counsellors International

Nicki Grossman, Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau

Charlie Gu, China Luxury Advisors

Christina Guggenberger, formerly Stockholm Visitors Board, City of Stockholm

Greg Hamman, Underseas Expeditions

Keith Hart, World OutGames Miami 2017