Hoteliers group pushes gay tourism

Friday, July 8, 2011

BAGUIO'S tourism sector sees nothing wrong if it earns the tag "Gay wedding Capital" of the Philippines.

Hotels and Restaurants Association of Baguio (HRAB) president and Baguio Country Club manager Anthony de Leon said more than tourism, "everybody must have equal rights."

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The raging controversy here dates back to June 25 when eight couples "wed" under the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) of Metro Baguio, prompting the City Council to probe the issue and decide whether to ban such activities in the city or file a case with National Bureau of Investigation.

Council tourism committee chairman Elmer Datuin warned colleagues during Monday's probe of the "same sex unions" about Baguio City becoming the "same sex capital of the country." Some fear it will cause a dent on the city's slumping tourist arrivals.

But MCC Pastor Myke Sotero immediately said tourism in New York grew after it "opened" itself and shunned homophobia.

Pink Tourism

Gay or LGBT tourism is a form of niche marketing aimed for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, says Wikipedia.

The main components of LGBT tourism is for cities and countries wishing to attract LGBT tourists; people looking to travel to LGBT-friendly destinations; people wanting travel with other LGBT people regardless of the destination and LGBT travelers who are mainly concerned with cultural and safety issues.

The slang, added Wikipedia, is "gay-cation" implying a version of a vacation that includes a pronounced aspect of LGBT culture, either in the journey or destination.

The LGBT tourism industry includes travel agents, tour companies, cruise lines and travel advertising and promotions companies who market these destinations to the gay community.

Coinciding with the increased visibility of LGBT people raising children in the 1990s, an increase in family-friendly LGBT tourism has emerged in the 2000s. The R Family Vacations for instance, which included activities and entertainment geared towards couples including same-sex weddings.

R Family's first sea voyage was held aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines's Norwegian Dawn with 1600 passengers including 600 children.

Baguio City's major tourism players are receptive to the relatively new though controversial phenomenon here.

"It's a free country," de Leon said at the sidelines of the launch of the 8th Annual Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Weekend here on September.

The huge annual tourism event gathers major tourism players all over north and central Luzon here is yet another pitch to spur the city's slumping tourism industry, which according to de Leon must be reshaped and needing planning.

Slump

Baguio tourist arrivals have decreased by 33 percent from January to March in the same period last year, according to the Department of Tourism.

Last year, Baguio reportedly received some 221,000 tourists from January to March while this year, only 150,000 more than those to visited the Summer Capital the same period this year.

De Leon said "people should live and let live," while acknowledging the BCC has gay employees who he said the Club relies on for their creativity.

"I don't find anything wrong with that. Anyone must be welcome to Baguio, whatever their [sexual orientation]," he stressed.

What government and the tourism sector must focus on, de Leon added, is how to craft a strategic master plan that defines what Baguio tourism wants in the next five years.

It is a matter of thinking what infrastructures, marketing plans Baguio will have to market it, he said.

In fact in the whole country, he blames, "did not have a tourism recovery plan."

It remains to be seen though if the "same sex unions" controversy will indeed spur "new interest" in Baguio as the tourism sector here rallies against stiff competition from other areas in the country and abroad.