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Dallas Trumps Houston On Enticing Gay Tourists
Gay Travelers Spend $65 Billion Annually On Travel

POSTED: 1:05 pm CST March 14, 2006
UPDATED: 1:12 pm CST March 14, 2006


HOUSTON -- Houston hosts one of the biggest and best gay pride parades in the county, while Dallas' parade pales in comparison. Yet, Big D recently made headlines by creating a direct link to gay travel on the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau Web site.

"Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender travelers spend $65 billion a year on travel and we want to make sure Dallas positions itself to take advantage of that," said Dallas CVB chief executive officer Phillip Jones.

When viewers visit Dallas' Web site and click on the Diverse Dallas button, the site shows pictured icon groups that spotlight segmented communities of the city's population, including the African-American, Asian and Hispanic communities. The Web site now includes a link to the GLBT community.

The Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau Web site doesn't have anything similar.

"I don't think Dallas has anything to be proud of. They're definitely not doing as well as Houston is right now," GHCVB president Jordy Tollet said. "We're not bragging about putting one picture up with no real information."

Tollet told KPRC Local 2 that Houston has always been all-inclusive and that there are not any plans to target one particular group.

"As we like to say in the chamber, diversity is green when it comes to economics. Houston needs to embrace that," GLBT Chamber of Commerce President Cory Tow said.

Video: Houston Lags Behind Dallas In Luring Gay Travelers

Houston outnumbers Dallas in gay and lesbian total population, and ZIP code 77006, known as The Montrose, puts Houston on the map as one of the top 10 metropolitan areas with the largest GLBT community.

But, Houston's CVB Web site only describes The Montrose as "well-known for its pioneering spirit and unique persona."

How Did Dallas Trump Houston?

Erik Olenchak, a gay Houstonian, travels often and agrees that Dallas has recognized the economic impact of a traveler, who on average stays longer and spends more money when traveling.

Olenchack believes Houston has an image problem.

"We have an image that isn't particularly open-minded and that takes its toll on travel dollars," Olenchak told KPRC Local 2.

Olenchak said Houston is, at best, a limited gay travel destination because of the pride parade, which is barely mentioned on the Greater Houston CVB Web site.

Houston's latest advertising campaign focuses on sports, the rodeo, arts and museums.

Why Should Houston's CVB Entice Gay Tourists?

Research shows that GLBT travelers spend $65 billion a year and have an average household income of $87,000 a year.

Dallas officials said their gay travelers tend to spend $50 more per day than other travelers.

In a poll of gay travelers, 98 percent said a city's reputation as being gay friendly strongly influences their vacation choices.

Welcome to Big D it's so superrrrrrr

OH SNAP!

HOUSTON -- Houston hosts one of the biggest and best gay pride parades in the county, while Dallas' parade pales in comparison. Yet, Big D recently made headlines by creating a direct link to gay travel on the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau Web site.

County or country? Is this a typo?

I hate that my city is pandering to homos. Keep them in SanFransicko and Austin where they belong.


IBTL

you want some more?
the houston crew can net them and ship all you want in Land-sea-air containers

Some of us hockey fans knew Dallas had the ghey long ago.

Quoted: you want some more? the houston crew can net them and ship all you want in Land-sea-air containers

They probably fit in better up there anyway.

Its because there is more ASs in DALLASs

Don't Mess With Texas...You Might Get Aids.