Gay business is big business, and gay travel is even bigger business. Comcast Spotlight acknowledged that fact when they launched the Gay Travel On Demand Channel Oct. 14. Subscribers can now click onto tourism videos featuring Gay Chicago and Gay Friendly Halifax.
Canada is a prime destination for gay travel and the LGBT travel market is so desirable to Canadian businesses that FlyNovaScotia.com not only sponsored a travel video on behalf of its capital city of Halifax ( 2006 population: 372,679 ) but it also sponsored the Gay Chicago video, which opens and closes with an ad driving viewers to the province's tourism Web site.
Nancy Newman is integrated marketing manager for Comcast Spotlight, the cable giant's advertising division where targeted content, from children's programming to exercise videos, is produced for digital subscribers. Gay Travel On Demand ( GTOD ) was Newman's brainchild and she now serves as the executive producer of the series.
Once Spotlight committed to the Gay Travel concept, Newman and her team were given the green light to exhibit at the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association ( IGLTA ) conference in May. Newman became a member of that organization as well as the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. "This led to expanded relationships and partnerships with the businesses and industry leaders that will help us make this work," Newman said.
Both the Chicago and Halifax videos are hosted by Bryan Herb, chairman of IGLTA. Herb, co-founder and chief marketing officer for Zoom Vacations, has developed a print and online presence as a gay travel expert and will continue to serve as the host for the series as Spotlight develops additional packages.
Newman is quick to point out that her products are decidedly not infomercials, citing the high production values, explaining that the videos are "definitely more content than commercial," and comparing them to public television's travel features. She and her team determine content, not the advertiser/sponsor. "Quality is important to me, I want the content to be meaningful and resonate with the audience"a sophisticated audience often regarded as recession proof.
Thirty-second spots advertising GTOD will run across the Comcast programming platform, the majority placed during shows popular with LGBT audiences, from the Food Channel to the community-specific Logo Network.
Comcast certainly scores diversity points for their sponsorship of LGBT organizations and events, but this initiative simply makes good business sense. Approximately 70 percent of the Chicago LGBT market subscribes to cable and, as Newman noted, "gays and lesbians generally have more disposable income."
The channel will be available in the Washington, D.C., market in February and Newman continues to work on partnerships with tourism companies to pursue placement in more markets, noting that the sponsor determines which segments are shown in which markets. FlyNovaScotia.com, for example, is interested in Chicago and East Coast placement, logically perceiving the scenic Atlantic province as a more likely destination for travelers who live east of the Mississippi. This reality does not dampen Newman's aspirations.
"I want the Gay Travel Channel to exist throughout the nation," she says. "We want to see a dozen, two dozen, videos up there from Gay Chicago to Gay-friendly Thailand. My favorite line is 'crawl, walk, run'we're crawling right now, but we'll getting there."