It’s a huge market for the community | Photo: Pixabay/geralt
In the United States, LGBTI people spend nearly $100 billion on one thing and one thing alone — travel. This amounts to 10% of the community’s consumer power.
The information comes courtesy of Grindr and Forbes Magazine. The app surveyed its Millennial users to discover more about their travel habits.
Zachary Stafford, editor-in-chief of Grindr and the company’s digital magazine, Into, appeared on Forbes’ Queer Money to discuss the findings.
The official survey reveals that LGBTQ consumers have spending power of more than $5 trillion on a global scale. Within the US, it’s $965 billion alone.
40% of Grindr’s LGBTI millennials travel each quarter for fun, while 24% travel monthly. Most of them plan their trips 1-3 months in advance (39%) or 3-6 months in advance (35%).
Where do queer Millennials most want to go?
These traveling Millennials take LGBTI friendliness into consideration when planning trips.
61% said gay-friendly reputations are important, while 75% say a location having an LGBTI website makes them more likely to visit.
They’re also well-prepared.
54% of LGBTI millennials have a valid passports. This is more than the general US population, of which only 40% has one. This is perhaps because 42% of LGBTI millennials ‘can’t wait’ to go overseas.
So what the top vacation spots for these wanderlust seekers?
According to Grindr users, the top 10 destinations are: Italy, France, Hawaii, New York City, Australia, the UK, Greece, Spain, Japan, and Las Vegas.
The wanderlust life | Pixabay
Seeking new adventures
Plenty of LGBTI Millennials want new experiences — or a cruise. An astonishing 76% are ‘obsessed with or can’t wait to take a cruise’.
Meanwhile, nearly half (49%) enjoy nightlife while traveling and others are looking for more cultural explorations (46%) and museums (39%). More are also looking for nature and the outdoors (30%) over wineries and breweries (18%).
Most also stay in big-name hotels (71%) as opposed to home-shares (29%). Half of them answered they look for ‘hip and fun hotels’ while planning trips.
After all, with such amazing places in the world, from castles to romantic spots, who can blame the passion for traveling?
