Tourism, marriage industry foresee boom in same-sex nuptials

CONCORD -- Donna Kim, a wedding planner who just started marketing her services on gay websites to Massachusetts same-sex couples, received a telephone call this month from a wedding photographer from Austin, Texas. The reason for the call?

''There is a gold rush going on up there and I want to be a part of it," Jana Birchum said in an interview from Texas last week.

With a tremendous wave of prospective clients poised to flood their industry, wedding professionals and gay tourism insiders from across the country are trying to position themselves to take advantage of the Massachusetts Supreme Court decision that will legalize same-sex marriages on May 17.

Caterers, musicians, invitation makers, innkeepers, and entrepreneurs from dozens of other auxiliary industries say they all stand to benefit from a massive influx of spending that many anticipate will accompany same-sex weddings. Bottled up expectations of gay and lesbian partners who have been limited to civil ceremonies, combined with the gay community's high-end spending habits, are poised to affect a wide range of businesses, industry insiders say.

And piggy-backing on that potential boom are hopes that same-sex partners from around the country flock to Massachusetts and give a shot in the arm to the state's sprawling tourism market, the third biggest industry in the Commonwealth.

''It's going to be great for the economy," said Mary Kennedy, publisher of the Pink Pages, which has been actively selling ads on the basis of the court's decision since November. ''There is going to be a bonanza."

A 2001 study found that the median combined household income of gay couples was $65,000, nearly 60 percent higher than the US median income. And because only 13 percent of same-sex couples have children, they typically have more disposable income.

Add to that relative wealth the fact that consumers in the gay and lesbian community, like other historically excluded groups, tend to be exceptionally loyal to companies that recognize them, and marketing experts say businesses with the savvy to tap into this emerging market early could benefit for years to come.

Joe Toto, the owner of Groove Entertainment in Medford, who has been a DJ since 1980 and has worked a number of same-sex commitment ceremonies, started advertising on gayweddings.com in January in an attempt to tap into what he anticipates will be a huge new opportunity. He believes he will see an immediate 10 percent bump in business but said he wouldn't be surprised if the number of weddings he is hired for increases by as much as 50 percent over the long-term. And most, he believes, will be high-end affairs.

''When gay couples get married, it's a big deal," Toto said. ''They usually spend a serious amount of money and they don't want your typical chicken-dance DJ. They want it done right."

It's the same realization that has prompted manufacturers of high-end products like Jaguar automobiles to target marketing campaigns to the gay community.

In Toronto, where gay marriages were legalized last year and one in 10 marriage licenses are now being issued to same-sex couples, a same-sex wedding expo is scheduled for the end of the month and it's sold out, said organizer Marti Milks.

''It has opened up a huge new market," Milks said. ''We're really just at the beginning of it, but already you can see the money being spent on same-sex wedding is much higher than traditional weddings."

In the United States, the average wedding costs about $22,000, said David Liu, cofounder of theknot.com. But weddings in expensive cities such as Boston average closer to $60,000.

In Provincetown, the traditional vacation mecca of the gay and lesbian community in Massachusetts and home to hundreds of commitment ceremonies over the years, business wheels are already in motion. A wedding expo for same-sex couples who would like to get married there will be held the first weekend in June, said Rob Tosner, executive director of the Provincetown Business Guild.

Whether same-sex marriage licenses from Massachusetts will be honored in other states is still unclear, but that uncertainty has not stopped interest in the gay and lesbian community nationwide.

Lynette Molnar, owner of the Fairbanks Inn in Provincetown, is offering a $195 ''Pop the Question" special and a $395 wedding night package. She said she has sold two dozen packages and received calls from around the country.

The economic impact of those potential wedding vacations could spill past the $72 billion per year wedding industry. Gay travelers spend an estimated $54 billion a year, according to Thomas Roth, of Community Marketing in San Francisco, which specializes in gay tourism. Gays and lesbians travel more often and spend more money when they do. They are also very sensitive to a community's attitudes toward homosexuality when they pick their destinations. As a result, Roth said, marketing campaigns toward the gay community can be very effective.

Yves Pelletier, manager for gay and lesbian tourism for Montreal, agrees. Montreal has become a gay tourist mecca in the last decade because it is socially progressive and inviting, Pelletier said.

''Gays don't want to feel accepted, they want to feel nurtured," Pelletier said. ''My advice for Massachusetts, roll out the rainbow carpet."

Tourism experts in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., which began actively courting the gay market in 1996, have done exactly that. The city now aims 10 percent of its $2 million tourism marketing budget at the gay community and estimates that last year gays, and lesbians accounted for $810 million out of the $5.3 billion tourists spent in their city.

Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Bloomington, Ind., have all marketed their cities in gay publications. Philadelphia is about to launch the nation's first television campaign aimed at the gay market, said Jeff Guaracino, of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp.

The Philadelphia campaign also has two pitch lines that are appearing in gay magazines: ''Philadelphia, get your history straight and your nightlife gay," and ''Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love and sisterly affection." Likewise Washington has coined its own gay-themed slogan: ''Where more than just the cherry blossoms come out."

In Massachusetts, where tourism pumps more than $11 billion a year into the state's economy, there are no gay-themed marketing campaigns currently under consideration, said Paul Sacco, executive director of the state's Travel and Tourism Office. Instead, Massachusetts gears its $6 million budget to geographic regions and doesn't break the market into demographic segments, Sacco said.

Gay tourism marketing experts say that could be a lost opportunity, especially in the wake of the Massachusetts Supreme Court decision, which has engendered a lot of good will toward Massachusetts in the gay community. That good will could mean good business.

Using a survey of 3,000 gay and lesbians, Roth estimates that about 61 percent of the approximately 16.5 million gays and lesbians in the United States are in committed relationships. He estimated that even if only a small percentage of those 10 million couples traveled to say their vows, then 225,000 tourists might be flocking to the Bay State for the sake of marriage.

If couples spend $3,000 each on their vacations, that would bring about $675 million over the next three years in tourism spending. Add to this friends and family who accompany the couple, and that number could approach $1 billion, Roth estimated.

Says Donna Kim, the Concord wedding planner: ''There's no doubt about it, this could be very good for business."

Douglas Belkin can be reached at dbelkin@globe.com.