Making a big move to market to the lucrative gay community, Chicago-based online travel company Orbitz on Wednesday will launch a micro-site for gay and lesbian travelers.
With features that include information about cities with major gay populations and events on several continents, the site, which will be identified by a tab on the home page, will be one of the most aggressive online travel marketing initiatives to the gay and lesbian communities.
Other content on the site will include specialty-tailored travel deals and tips for gay and lesbian parents traveling with their families.
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As part of the push, Orbitz will launch a significant print ad campaign in high-profile gay media. An ad plays off its “Visit Planet Earth” campaign, but with a twist. It features the rainbow colors adopted by the gay community and uses the tagline: “See the world on your terms.” The ads will run this summer in gay lifestyle publications such as Out, Curve, And Baby and Passport.
The aggressive online push to the gay community comes as the market continues to spend more per capita on travel than most. Orbitz estimates that gays and lesbians spent roughly $1.2 billion online on travel last year.
“The gay community looks to the Internet when making travel plans–41 percent of gays and lesbians have booked travel online, as compared to 28 percent of other travelers,” said Mike Sands, chief marketing officer at Orbitz.
Orbitz is the latest company to focus more heavily on the gay and lesbian market, which tends to have more disposable income than other groups.
Gays and lesbians also often remain loyal to brands they feel serve their community, which is one reason mainstream companies have been more aggressive in targeting that market.
For travel companies, the stakes are even higher. Gay and lesbian travelers are seven times more likely than the average consumer to take six or more flights in one year and are twice as likely to spend more than $5,000 on one trip.
Orbitz’s micro-site follows its marketing partnership announced last month with PlanetOut Partners’ Gay.com Web site.
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