Kimpton Hotels Named Most Visible By GLBT Travelers

According to a survey of 4,700 gay and lesbian travelers, Kimpton Hotels is the best U.S. hotel chain at promoting itself to the GLBT market.

In its 14th annual survey of gay tourists, GLBT agency Community Marketing asked respondents to write-in the name of the most visible hotel chain to the gay and lesbian community.  Kimpton received 13% of the votes, beating out Starwood’s W brand (11%), Hilton (9%); Hyatt (7%), and Marriott (7%).

The survey results are due to Kimpton’s concerted effort to market itself as a gay-friendly brand.  ”Of all the hotel brands, (Kimpton is ) the most active in LGBT community,” says David Paisley of Community Marketing. “They have a website, they sponsor tons of events and they advertise in gay and lesbian media.”

Study Shows Companies Fail To Deliver On “Gay Friendly” Promise

Back in July, OGM relayed the horror story one gay couple experienced at a “gay friendly” resort in Cancun.  It should surprise nobody that this incident is far more common than it should be, according to a new study by Out Now Consulting.

The global GLBT consulting firm surveyed 30,000 people across the globe, and found that many hotels and destinations claim to be gay friendly, but do not take the necessary measures to ensure they actually are.  It seems companies are keen to slap the phrase “gay friendly” on advertisements these days without putting a second thought into what the term actually entails.

While it certainly doesn’t invalidate these findings, it should be noted the Out Now press release doesn’t mention any quantitative figures from the study, and the company also has some skin in the game.  Conveniently, Out Now offers GayComfort, an online training and accreditation program for hospitality professionals interested in serving the GLBT community.

World Rainbow Hotels Brings Together Collection of GLBT Friendly Hotels

Never before have agencies and corporate bookers been able to search for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT)-friendly hotels on the GDS (an international travel booking system). They have had to rely solely on travel guides and internet sites to fulfill their GLBT client’s needs.

World Rainbow Hotels is introducing the first ever GLBT-specific rate-codes that will be bookable on the GDS as well as a selection of websites. The World Rainbow Hotels team will be promoting the new rate plans to travel agents and corporate bookers, so that they will be better equipped to offer their clients GLBT-welcoming accommodation, carefully selected through a strict set of criteria.

Mark Lewis, Managing Director at HotelREZ, who is launching the World Rainbow Hotels program, says “It is not enough just to say an establishment is “Gay-welcoming”. GLBT consumers should be able to have reassurance that hotel staff understands their travel concerns and how to meet them.”

Staff at the hotels accepted into World Rainbow Hotels rate program will need to undertake “GayComfort” training online to increase awareness and levels of confidence with requests and situations that they may not be familiar with. GLBT guests will sense this natural confidence and will therefore feel more welcome at the hotels.

Beware The Term “Gay-Friendly”

Karen Ocamb from the Bilerico Project recently shared the story of Matt DeLeva and Eric Diaz’s recent trip to a “gay-friendly” resort in Cancun.  What should have been a dream vacation (in which Diaz proposed to DeLeva) turned out to be a nightmare when it became apparent that this resort was anything but gay-friendly.

It begs the question, what qualifies a hotel, or any other business for that matter, as gay-friendly?  In this case, the couple found the Gran Melia Resort on Expedia.com, under the “Gay Hotels & Gay Resorts” section of the website.  Expedia partners with the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association for the content of its GLBT oriented mini-site.  There’s no telling how this very homophobic resort slipped through the cracks of the normally very thorough IGLTA.  As of today, Expedia still has the Gran Melia on its list of gay-friendly Cancun resorts.