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In this down economy, at least one market that has seen growth in the beleaguered tourism industry. Travel directed for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender vacationers is proving to be recession-resistant. "Gay and lesbian travelers have not been pulling back on travel spending, the number of vacations they are taking or the number of days they are spending on vacation the way the general public is," says Passport Magazine editor Andrew Mersmann. Data show that a gay couple spends $7,000 on a week's trip, about $2,000 more than their heterosexual counterparts.
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The weather for an LGBT trip can be either hot or cold, but the biggest turnoff is an intolerant climate. "We are not going to book a whole lot of travel to Jamaica anytime soon because there is such systemic homophobia and violence against the gay and lesbian community, it's not safe to go there. And you don't want to spend your dollars there," says Mersmann.
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The gay community will generally find it smooth sailing onboard cruise ships. "There are all-gay cruises, and on most of the large cruise ships there tend to be gay groups with specific events, cocktail parties," says Mersmann.
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If Virginia and Virginians were smart, they'd take down the "gays not wanted" signs and not only hang onto Virginia gay dollars, but gather them in from other states as well. Gay friendly Key West will be getting our travel dollars soon.
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