This post was updated 10-20-10
It was revealed this afternoon at the "Gay and Lesbian Destination Marketing: Big Business Beyond Mainstream Orlando" event that the Orlando Convention and Visitors Bureau spendszero dollars an undefined amount on marketing to the gay community. Local travel agent and Metropolitan Business Association member Ayr Poucher shared this with the room. It came up during a conversation he had right after the panel ended with Orlando CVB Director of Advertising Chris Bare. Not one dime An amount is spent to lure this gigantic audience (with cash to spend) to the city, according to his conversation. Bare was unable to respond, as he had already left the event. We've reached out to Bare for comment and are awaiting response. Several locals at the table shared their hypothesis as to why the Orlando CVB chooses to do this. The group consensus basically boiled down to believing that the Orlando CVB might see marketing to te LGBT audience as too risky and possibly a PR nightmare.
Bare responded to our request for information. He says money is spent by the CVB, that the claim is incorrect. See below.
"The Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Inc. does market to the LGBT community through travel agents as members of IGLTA. We launched a landing page for Gay and Lesbian visitors this year at orlandoinfo.com/glbt. Additionally, working through Communigayte, a gay and lesbian focused marketing agency in Germany, we have a presence on Queer.de. And we take a very active role is supporting gay and lesbian media that are interested in our market through our publicity department."
It was revealed this afternoon at the "Gay and Lesbian Destination Marketing: Big Business Beyond Mainstream Orlando" event that the Orlando Convention and Visitors Bureau spends
Bare responded to our request for information. He says money is spent by the CVB, that the claim is incorrect. See below.
"The Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Inc. does market to the LGBT community through travel agents as members of IGLTA. We launched a landing page for Gay and Lesbian visitors this year at orlandoinfo.com/glbt. Additionally, working through Communigayte, a gay and lesbian focused marketing agency in Germany, we have a presence on Queer.de. And we take a very active role is supporting gay and lesbian media that are interested in our market through our publicity department."