As the percentage of Americans who identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community continue to grow, so does their buying power – and so should their representation in destination marketing.
Authentically representing the LGBTQ+ community in marketing campaigns is transitioning from a novel strategy to a best practice. This community prioritizes travel, considers themselves foodies and wants to get out of the house to explore1 – all things that align with our industry. And as the fastest growing minority segment in the U.S.2, including the LGBTQ+ community in your campaigns should be at the top of your business needs and wants.
The LGBTQ+ community isn’t just those who openly identify as members of the community – it’s also their allies and those who aren’t comfortable or choose not to be out in society. Half of all U.S. consumers have a friend or family member who is part of the LGBTQ+ community3. And with openly LGBTQ+ individuals making up 7.6% of the U.S. population4, the entire community and its allies make up more than a minority – it’s a majority.
And while this community may seem to get a lot of airtime, a Nielsen study found that outside of June, LGBTQ+ inclusivity in marketing drops to 1%5. Sixty-three percent of LGBTQ+ consumers feel underrepresented in advertising6, and yet 79% of all consumers feel comfortable or neutral with LGBTQ+ representation in ads7. After exposure to LGBTQ+ individuals in marketing, 60% of non-LGBTQ+ Americans see the benefit of it, noting that it increases their comfort with people who are different. With significant feelings of underrepresentation, high national comfort levels around showing this minority segment in ads and proof that it accelerates acceptance – why is their representation so low?
LGBTQ+ Representation in Marketing
It could be a matter of simple misunderstanding. In a 2023 GLAAD Accelerating Acceptance study, findings highlight that confusion still exists around the LGBTQ+ community, with half of survey respondents unfamiliar with nonbinary and transgender people, and 66% thinking of the LGBTQ+ community as a single group. A lack of comfort around the identities, needs and issues of this community might be deterring decision-makers from including this market in their campaigns. So, too, could the perception that the general public would not be supportive of such representation.
In fact, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Here are some GLAAD facts to consider:
- 84% of Americans support LGBTQ+ rights
- 91% of non-LGBTQ+ people believe the LGBTQ+ community deserves freedoms and should not be discriminated against
- 70% of non-LGBTQ+ adults desire companies to show public support and create equitability for the LGBTQ+ community
Despite all of this support, we have seen public backlash against brands who have done what the majority of Americans seem to be in favor of. We can all remember the blunders of Budweiser in the summer of 2023 with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney – a partnership that resulted in calls for a “buycott” that affected the beer giant’s sales for an unprecedented eight months. And while those sales were primarily impacted in mostly right-leaning counties for the first three months, as time went on, left-leaning counties became the largest source of Budweiser’s decline in sales over the next five months8.
While there could be many reasons for this swap, data from AIMM provides an interesting perspective. For every consumer who supports brands that back down from representing or targeting the LGBTQ+ community in ads, two consumers withdraw their support for those brands. And for Gen Z, that number increases to 39. Budweiser found this to be true.
What This Means for Our Industry
Over half of LGBTQ+ travelers are more likely to consider a destination that represents them in its marketing, according to MMGY’s 2022 Portrait of LGBTQ+ Travelers in America™. And with $4.7 trillion in global purchasing power10 – which is expected to grow to $33 trillion by 2030 as Gen Z ages11 – including this community in marketing campaigns should be a top priority.
But representation alone isn’t enough to sway LGBTQ+ travelers: Ninety-nine percent consider a destination’s reputation as being LGBTQ-community friendly and having nondiscrimination laws in place as crucial to their travel decision-making12. And with travel as one of the community’s top three wishes for the future13, we have every reason to advocate for their representation in marketing materials and to push for societal equality in our communities.
Lifting up the LGBTQ+ community – or any underrepresented community in the U.S. – needs to include genuine support and authentic representation. On this front, things are improving. LGBTQ+ consumers feel that community-targeted marketing realistically portrays them, much more so than their representations in mass marketing14. And this approach not only makes the community feel seen but it also has a tremendous impact on ad effectiveness, raising brand trust by 100%–162%, brand opinion by 70%–122% and purchase intent by 44%–72%15.
How to Take Action
As we strive for more inclusivity and diversity in our marketing campaigns, we need to take an honest look at the audiences we are trying to reach and work to accurately and equitably portray them to the best of our ability. Centering LGBTQ+ people in marketing and including them with intention in our campaigns will take us a long way toward equitable representation in travel and hospitality campaigns.
Here are some steps you can take now to ensure better LGBTQ+ representation and support going forward:
- Include LGBTQ+ stakeholders and/or staff when making decisions on the community’s behalf and empower them to share their lived experiences, ensuring their voices are heard on topics that would affect their community
- Review local LGBTQ+ legislation and antidiscrimination policies for a realistic view of how your destination is viewed by the community, bearing in mind that how those policies are being presented by the media may be a very different story – but is typically what most people will be familiar with
- Evaluate your current campaigns, partners and media outlets for gaps in LGBTQ+ representation
- Consider your level of genuine support for the LGBTQ+ community by asking yourself these questions:
- Do we only market to LGBTQ+ consumers during Pride Month?
- Do we offer support (financial, volunteer or other) to LGBTQ+ organizations year round? What is our give-back component, if anything?
- Is our organization and/or destination a place where LGBTQ+ people feel comfortable being their true, authentic selves?
What This Looks Like
At MMGY, we see LGBTQ+ representation as part of what we do and not just a stand-alone effort. By thinking inclusively and seeking out opportunities to lift up and reach the LGBTQ+ and adjacent communities, we create authentic connections between these consumers and our clients. As an example, MMGY’s International Marketing division sought to show LGBTQ+ consumers that the people of Australia’s Northern Territory are as diverse as its landscapes. We worked with client Tourism NT to promote Alice Springs’ fabALICE, a yearly LGBTQ+ festival. Using the 30th anniversary of the cult classic film “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert ” as inspiration, we invited four drag queens to travel across the NT in a bus and recreate famous scenes and attend the festival. Their authentic interactions with the area’s community as well as their connection to the land showed their social media audiences that the Northern Territory truly welcomed them. For a deeper look at this campaign, click here.
The LGBTQ+ community continues to grow and thrive, and whether or not your marketing campaigns grow and thrive with them is entirely up to you.
- Mintel, Marketing to LGBTQ+ Communities – US – 2024, 22 February 2024
- Mintel
- Cultural Inclusion Accelerator and AIMM LGTBQ Inclusivity Perceptions Study, June 2023
- Gallup, https://news.gallup.com/poll/611864/lgbtq-identification.aspx
- https://www.wsj.com/articles/lgbt-representation-in-ads-has-grown-but-many-consumers-find-it-inauthentic-11667331187
- Cultural Inclusion Accelerator and AIMM LGTBQ Inclusivity Perceptions Study, June 2023
- Cultural Inclusion Accelerator and AIMM LGTBQ Inclusivity Perceptions Study, June 2023
- https://hbr.org/2024/03/lessons-from-the-bud-light-boycott-one-year-later
- Cultural Inclusion Accelerator and AIMM LGTBQ Inclusivity Perceptions Study, June 2023
- https://www.lgbt-capital.com/index.php?menu_id=2
- Mintel
- Community Marketing & Insights 25th Annual LGBTQ Tourism & Hospitality Survey, U.S. Traveler Results, January 2024
- Mintel
- Cultural Inclusion Accelerator and AIMM LGTBQ Inclusivity Perceptions Study, June 2023
- Cultural Inclusion Accelerator and AIMM LGTBQ Inclusivity Perceptions Study, June 2023
