Editor’s note: This article was first published in June 2011; its figures, a global LGBT market worth about €73 billion and over €800 million in extra income for Madrid from Pride, are from that time and unsourced. The businesses named as examples were current in 2011.
According to the latest figures, the LGBT community (gay men, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people) is a global market worth around €73 billion. Better still, Spain is a favourite destination for this community, whether because of its climate, its location or the progress it has made on LGBT rights and equality.
The fact is that many of Spain’s regions now want to attract these visitors. Granada is working hard to promote gay tourism. Madrid has long been doing so: thanks to Pride, it takes in more than €800 million in extra income from the people who arrive from all over the world for those days. Barcelona got ready to court this community a while ago, and several businesses exclusively for gay men and lesbians were launched there, such as the AXEL chain with its LGBT hotel.
Gay bookshops in central Madrid, Chueca Viajes (Madrid) and Viajes Multicolor (Granada) are companies that set a trend in Spain, and the numbers show they have become quite profitable while others have had to close because of the crisis. Not to mention gay bars and clubs, which have not been affected by the crisis. There are even law firms specialising in gay and lesbian clients.
Luxury has always been associated with the gay community, and it’s true that they are much bigger consumers. There’s nothing special behind it: since most of them have no family responsibilities, they spend that spare money on small or large luxuries.
This community is expected to spend even more in Spain, because as their rights are recognised and society sees and understands them better, more and more people will keep “coming out of the closet”, and we’ll welcome much more LGBT tourism.
Further reading
- Tourism for gay men and lesbians
- Business ideas for specific customer groups
- Business ideas in leisure and tourism
Featured image: Wikier 2017, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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