Gay event received $50,000 from state
By Katherine Nichols
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Hawai'i Tourism Authority gave $50,000 to organizers of last weekend's Volcano Party, the first time the state financially supported an event for gay and lesbian tourists. The party at the Hawai'i Convention Center drew about 1,000 out-of-state visitors, and business doubled at Hula's Bar & Lei Stand.
But the tourism authority says the financial support does not signal a new direction for the state's marketing efforts. The strategy for promoting Hawai'i on a limited budget remains one based on vacation interests — golf, ocean sports, shopping, cuisine — and not on race, religion or sexual orientation, said David Preece, a vice president at the Hawai'i Visitor & Convention Bureau.
"I think it's unfortunate that some people view this as exclusionary," said Preece. "It has nothing to do with that; it has everything to do with being an efficient, effective marketer."
Still, experts in marketing to the gay community say Hawai'i is missing out on a potentially large clientele by not being host to more events specifically for gays and selling more aggressively to that niche.
While there are no breakdowns for spending in Hawai'i, nationwide the gay and lesbian community represents an estimated $47.3 billion travel market, or about 10 percent of the U.S. travel industry, according to Community Marketing Inc., a San Francisco-based travel consulting and communications firm.
The tourism authority said it made the Volcano Party its first gay event only because its organizer, the Maui AIDS Foundation, was the first to approach the state with a sound proposal and impress board members with how successful similar events proved elsewhere.
The authority said it is happy to have more gay tourists, but isn't planning a specific push toward that market.
"We're trying to attract higher spending visitors," said Rick Humphreys, the authority's executive director. "We don't discriminate."
That stance is not acceptable for many gay tourists, who are looking for a sign that they are welcome here. That's especially true after the 1998 vote against same-sex marriage, which some marketers say hurt Hawai'i's gay-friendly image.
"Most other major tourist destinations are wooing this market, and (Hawai'i is) totally ignoring it," said Jack Law, the owner of Hula's Bar & Lei Stand. "They aren't even trying to collect statistics on it."
Experts say this niche market requires a special approach.
The gay community must be specifically targeted and invited, said Bob Witeck, chief executive of Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based strategic marketing communications firm specializing in the gay and lesbian consumer market.
It's not enough to say you market to everyone based on their hobbies and interests, said David Paisley, a San Francisco-based production manager for gay and lesbian travel expos.
"Hawai'i needs to make a commitment to the gay and lesbian community of California," he said. "We're not popping over there as much as we used to. These other options (like Palm Springs) are bombarding us with messages."
The Hawai'i Tourism Authority "is saying, basically, 'We don't want you,'" said Law, "when other places are jumping through hoops to get them to come."
The lack of an aggressive campaign, while attributed to money and marketing strategy, could be partly because of concern that it would alienate the family market.
"It does cut both ways," said Bob Morris, president of the Aspen Convention and Visitors Bureau. Aspen is host to a successful Gay Ski Week each year, but Morris thinks it represents a substitution rather than an addition.
Families have called and asked when Gay Ski Week will occur so they can avoid it, said Morris, who added that this is still not reason enough for Aspen to discontinue a theme week that provides a tremendous economic boost during a traditionally slow period.
Mike Gabbard, chairman of Hawai'i's Alliance for Traditional Marriage and Values, believes that this type of marketing will drive away families. To demonstrate his opposition, he picketed outside the Volcano Party last Saturday.
"Spending 50,000 taxpayer dollars to encourage homosexuals to come to Hawai'i for sex parties — parties which are notorious for spreading AIDS and rampant drug use — is heartless and shortsighted," Gabbard said in a statement. "Sex tourism — homosexual or heterosexual — will completely undermine our family-oriented visitor industry, which is the foundation for our economy."
Supporters of marketing to gays say the risk of alienating the family market is unfounded. "That's an outdated, archaic way of viewing it," said Michael Kenny, vice president for cultural tourism at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau, which has successfully attracted the gay community. "We haven't seen it here."
The culture has changed in the last few years, said Kenny. In destinations that draw educated and sophisticated people, "it's so much a part of normal discourse."
A successful marketing effort includes being host to gay tourist events, which are "critically important," said Kenny.
The Volcano Party was timed to coincide with the Sunday departure of the predominately gay, week-long cruise on the Norwegian Star. Aboard cruise ships, travelers "create an environment where people feel safe and welcome," said Gregg Kaminsky, vice president of Atlantis Events, a California-based gay tour operator that arranged the cruise, which was nearly sold out with close to 2,200 passengers.
Marketers need to tailor and customize to appeal to a group's unique needs, said Peggy Friedman, associate professor of marketing at Chaminade University. When asked about alienating families, Friedman said, "It certainly is a valid concern, but I think if you plan it well, you reduce that risk, so both groups can be served in a way that is satisfying to both." The key, she said, is targeting appropriately to "reduce the risk that your message is going to the wrong place or the wrong person."
This may mean direct mail, or advertising in gay-specific publications or Web sites, attending gay and lesbian expos — something Hawai'i has never done — or taking American Airlines' approach.
"Instead of spending money on advertising, we donate to causes ... which gets American Airlines out in the community," said Tim Kincaid, spokesman for American Airlines in Fort Worth, Texas. The $184 million that American said it earned from travel agencies specializing in gay consumers last year is enough to make most other airlines follow suit.
The benefits go beyond gays themselves. Friends and "family members are influenced by a company that is welcoming," said Kincaid. "We know we have a good reputation in that community," and that's what makes the difference when people who may take three vacations per year are choosing an airline.
Though gays read and see much of the same media as the general population, it's "equally clear that if you do direct messaging ... you're more successful; they sit up and pay attention," said the marketing consultant Witeck. Advertisements in Gourmet Magazine or The Wall Street Journal are reaching a lot of people, but if you want to be competitive, "you have to look at ways to deepen the affinity," said Witeck.
Though Hawai'i is not the popular gay vacation spot it was in the '70s, Law believes that the state's history as a gay-friendly destination and its unique offerings can put it in the foreground with this niche market again.
In Waikiki, "we have a great product that the gay community loves," said Law. Gays frequent urban resort destinations for the excitement, fun, and sophistication. But Waikiki has something extra, said Law: "The 'live and let live' attitude and the spirit of aloha" make everyone feel welcome.
