A $55 Billion Tourism Market

To be exact: A $55 billion tourism market that is being tapped by enterprising cities such as Philadelphia, my old home town. Philly, as we natives call it, started an ad campaign four years ago aimed at drawing the Will and Grace crowd to oooh and ahhh at the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, not to mention spend lots of its so-called disposal income in local businesses and hotels.

The TV ads for the campaign featured a gay couple in colonial drag with the message: “Come to Philadelphia. Get your history straight and your nightlife gay.” It’s been successful in drawing gay men but not lesbians. So, the city is now doing special outreach to lesbians.

Other cities are understandably jealous and don’t want Philly to have all of that lovely dough, so they’re throwing together their own marketing schemes to bring in the “Queer as Folk” and the “L Word” bunch.

That gay men have more disposal income than any other group in our culture is an urban myth, but don’t tell that to the corporations pouring money into our community. Studies have shown that there are as many poor and working-class folks in our community as there are in any other.

Read More