Spain
to Seduce the ‘Pink’ Market
The National Tourist Office of Spain to target
the Singaporean Gay (LGBT) Community
Singapore, 3rd March 2008 – Starting from
2008, the National Tourist Office of Spain will
begin an online campaign in a bid to reach out to
the gay market within the South-East Asian region,
specifically in Singapore.
In order to reach out the Singaporean gay community,
Spain has decided to work with Fridae.com which
has been ranked as the No.1 most visited gay and
lesbian website in Singapore from January to March
2007 by Hitwise, a leading online competitive intelligence
service.
In 2006, Fridae.com was also the stickiest site
in Singapore based on Nielsen/Netratings. Fridae
attracted 380,000 unique browsers and 50 million
page impressions per month. The average session
duration has increased from 12 minutes to 18 minutes
in January 2007.
“Working with Fridae allows us to hit the
pink market in a subtle manner. Although, the general
community behaviour towards the pink market in South-East
Asia is quite lax, it still sometimes remains a
taboo subject,” said Mr Enrique Ruiz de Lera,
Director of NTO Spain, SE Asia, Australia, New Zealand
and India, “Yet, one must realize that this
is a huge niche market that cannot be ignored.”
From 3rd March onwards, Spain’s advertisements
will go live on Fridae.com, the ads were created
solely for the purpose of targeting the gay market.
Also, Spain’s better known gay areas and cities
such as Barcelona, Madrid, Sitges and Ibiza have
been featured in Fridae’s city guides –
the first European country gay guide on the website.
“Fridae is very enthusiastic about working
with Tour Spain to promote Spain as a destination
of choice for the Asian gay and lesbian traveler.
“ added Dr Stuart Koe, CEO of Fridae, “Gays
and lesbians are known to be avid travelers, and
based on Fridae’s research data, spend more
than four times per capita compared to the average
tourist. Spain, with its rich cultural and design
heritage and gay-friendly society, is a perfect
holiday choice.”
The gay community otherwise known as the LGBT (Lesbian,
Gay, Bi-sexual & Transgender) community is a
dream yet somewhat neglected market in the tourism
industry. According to a recent US study conducted
by Community Marketing, one of the world’s
leading consultants on Gay tourism, gay tourism
practitioners spend $64 billion a year on gay travel.
In the US alone, the adult GLBT community has total
economic spending power of more than $600 billion
a year – in 2006, the gay market was estimated
to be worth $660 billion in disposable income. Community
Marketing found that for every one dollar that was
invested in marketing gay tourism, at least $150
was made in return of investment due to the direct
spending in shops, hotels, restaurants and other
attractions.
The study also revealed that 77% of respondents
said they shop for hotels and book online, while
29% said they book accommodations by phone or in
person through a travel agent or directly with the
supplier. 86% of respondents took at least one flight
(up slightly from 2006) with a median of six flights
in the last 12 months. 81% said they shop and book
their flights online.
An additional 25% attended a Gay Pride celebration
where they stayed overnight, making it one of the
most prominent “gay motivators” for
taking a trip.
Spain provides one of the highest degrees of liberty
for the LGBT community and is one of the five countries
that allow same-sex marriage. The culture has been
exported internationally with film directors such
as Pedro Almodóvar (best known for his latest
work, Volver starring Penelope Cruz), who is openly
gay and has incorporated elements of underground
and gay culture into mainstream forms with wide
crossover appeal, thus redefining perceptions of
gays in Spanish cinema and Spain. Events like Europride
which was celebrated in Madrid earlier this year
has also marked a turning point in the LGBT community
within Spain.
“Spain is one of the friendliest and most
hospitable countries in the world, and that goes
for every visitor, including the LGBT community.”
says Mr Ruiz de Lera, “The LGBT community
consist of a young, affluent and travel-savvy audience
that will find in Spain an irresistible mix of arts,
culture, history, its pulsating nightlife, fashion
and an amazing variety of food and wine. Fridae
was the obvious partner to convey this message to
the Southeast Asian gay community."
Spain is popular among gay tourism practitioners
because of the liberal behaviour towards gay, its
outstanding gay infrastructure (bars, businesses,
hotels, nightlife, and entertainment) and finding
security and safety within this open-minded community,
apart from the other products that Spain offers
to all tourists.
The most important destinations for gay tourists
who visit Spain are Madrid and its chueca neighbourhood,
Barcelona, Sitges and Ibiza.
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About National Tourist of Office
The National Tourist Office of Spain is responsible
for promoting and marketing Spanish tourism abroad.
The NTO of Spain in Singapore covers the Southeast
Asian, Australian, New Zealand and Indian markets
respectively. The NTO is based in Singapore and
organises events which help promote tourism to Spain
in these markets, marketing all areas of tourism
in Spain and also working with Autonomous regions,
local entities and the private sector in achieving
this aim.
