gay and lesbian tourism: the essential guide for marketing

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BOOK REVIEW Gay and Lesbian Tourism: The Essential Guide for Marketing By Jeff Guaracino. Butterworth-Heinemann (Elsevier.com) 2007, xix + 183 pp (index, photographs, tables, appendices), 35.00 Pbk. ISBN: 978-0-7506-8232-9 Gustav Visser University of the Free State, South Africa Gay and Lesbian Tourism was published approximately the same time as Gay Trav- els in the Muslim World (Luongo, 2007). The contrast of carefully crafted and nego- tiated same-sex meetings and life-worlds in those parts of the world where Islam is the majority religion, as opposed to the decidedly ‘‘out-there’’ world of Gay and Lesbian Tourism: The Essential Guide for Marketing could hardly have been more stark. It reminds the readers that although one could argue that gay and lesbian tourism is a global business, one should certainly also keep in mind that gay and lesbian travel is not a universal marketing opportunity. From a western perspective, Gay and Lesbian Tourism is certainly a welcome addi- tion to the marketing literature. Indeed, this book provides a comprehensive start- ing point for marketers and entrepreneurs in tourism and recreation product provision, as well as more general insights into how to run businesses in a more inclusive manner and, potentially, far more profitably. The book is very well struc- tured and written in an inviting and clear fashion. In terms of content, the text has a broad scope and aims to provide useful information on why the gay and lesbian market is important for any type of business. The book also includes an appendix that, among other useful information, provides guidance on gay advertising ‘‘do’s and don’ts’’, and an extensive list of GLBT organizations, meetings, conventions, sporting, religious, and human right groups. The book is arranged around nine themes. The short opening chapter provides a concise summary concerning the rise of gay tourism. The case study on American Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 353–354, 2009 Printed in Great Britain www.elsevier.com/locate/atoures PUBLICATIONS IN REVIEW This Department publishes reviews of recent publications in or related to the study of tourism. Individuals interested in submitting review essays and book reveiws should write directly to the Associate Editor for Publications in Review, Stephen Smith <[email protected]>. Unsolicited reviews will not be accepted. 353

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By Jeff Guaracino. But183 pp (index, photo978-0-7506-8232-9

www.elsevier.com/locate/atoure

PUBLICATIONS IN REVIEW

This Department publishes reviews of recent publications in or related to thestudy of tourism. Individuals interested in submitting review essays and bookreveiws should write directly to the Associate Editor for Publications in Review,Stephen Smith <[email protected]>. Unsolicited reviews will not beaccepted.

BOOK REVIEW

Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 353–354, 2009Printed in Great Britain

s

Gay and Lesbian Tourism:The Essential Guide for Marketing

terworth-Heinemann (Elsevier.com) 2007, xix +graphs, tables, appendices), €35.00 Pbk. ISBN:

Gustav VisserUniversity of the Free State, South Africa

Gay and Lesbian Tourism was published approximately the same time as Gay Trav-els in the Muslim World (Luongo, 2007). The contrast of carefully crafted and nego-tiated same-sex meetings and life-worlds in those parts of the world where Islam isthe majority religion, as opposed to the decidedly ‘‘out-there’’ world of Gay andLesbian Tourism: The Essential Guide for Marketing could hardly have been more stark.It reminds the readers that although one could argue that gay and lesbian tourismis a global business, one should certainly also keep in mind that gay and lesbiantravel is not a universal marketing opportunity.

From a western perspective, Gay and Lesbian Tourism is certainly a welcome addi-tion to the marketing literature. Indeed, this book provides a comprehensive start-ing point for marketers and entrepreneurs in tourism and recreation productprovision, as well as more general insights into how to run businesses in a moreinclusive manner and, potentially, far more profitably. The book is very well struc-tured and written in an inviting and clear fashion. In terms of content, the text hasa broad scope and aims to provide useful information on why the gay and lesbianmarket is important for any type of business. The book also includes an appendixthat, among other useful information, provides guidance on gay advertising ‘‘do’sand don’ts’’, and an extensive list of GLBT organizations, meetings, conventions,sporting, religious, and human right groups.

The book is arranged around nine themes. The short opening chapter providesa concise summary concerning the rise of gay tourism. The case study on American

353

Airlines is most interesting and immediately introduces the reader to a usefulfeature deployed throughout the entire book—the inclusion of case studies as ameans to illustrate key points made in the main text. The second chapter addressesdifferent types of terminology in terms of what can be used, and should not beused in addressing the gay and lesbian travel sectors. Chapter Three looks at anissue that overshadows the whole book (Chapters four to nine): the economicpower of gay tourism. While most readers will agree with many of the claims made,it does border on hyperbole. Notwithstanding, it is argued that good businessshould not be about political or social statements or correctness: it should be hon-est and welcoming of all consumers as a matter of course—that is where sustain-able profit is to be found. This is, however, a terribly naı̈ve view of gay andlesbian lives around the world. Business, and life for that matter, is just not thatsimple—whether or not it makes economic/social/political sense. Unfortunatelythe remainder of the text works from the fundamentally flawed idea that all busi-ness persons (politicians, etc.) are aware of the ‘‘whole’’ market and will pursue itin the name of profit (or correctness, inclusion, etc.). While many share the generalsentiment proposed, the world ‘‘out there’’ just does not think in the same man-ner—particularly outside of the narrow American and, to a lesser extent, Europeanworld this book examines. Notwithstanding these reservations, the following rangeof ‘‘how-to’’ chapters provide insights shared by a person who has been at themine-face of gay and lesbian tourism marketing and are certainly insightful. Someof these guidelines might even have some currency in the context of the develop-ing world context—something the book, as noted, ignores as a whole.

Not everyone will share the same excitement of Guarancino concerning the gayand lesbian tourism market. Too much is made of a relatively small empowered co-hort of gay and lesbian consumers while ignoring the fact that most queers theworld over are not empowered, nor do they have the discretionary time for leisureand tourism, or resources to engage identity-based travel options. Notwithstanding,the book does highlight a niche market that deserves tourism managers’ (andresearchers’) attention, and in this regard, this is a useful and very informative text.

In closing—this is not an academic text, but nevertheless, would find a keenreadership in courses with a more practical approach to tourism management.Moreover, from a research perspective the book is filled with hypotheses that re-quire unpacking and testing. In this respect, though probably unintended, thebook presents a very useful set of ‘‘academic’’ research questions that require scru-tiny and further investigation. As a text for marketing, this book is recommendedreading. For the more academically inclined, this book might be a bit too practical.Notwithstanding, this is a welcome addition to the gay and lesbian literature.

Gustav Visser. Department of Geography, University of the Free State,Bloemfontein, PO Box 339, 9301, South Africa, E-mail <[email protected]>

REFERENCE

Luongo, M. T.2007 Gay Travels in the Muslim World. New York, NY: Harrington Park Press.

Assigned 26 March 2008. Submitted 10 October 2008. Accepted 31 October 2008.

doi:10.1016/j.annals.2008.10.008

354 Publications in review / Annals of Tourism Research 36 (2009) 353–360