The boom in gay travel has encouraged the body responsible for promoting gay tourism worldwide to expand its European activities. The International Gay and Lesbian Tourism Association (IGLTA) has just appointed its first full-time European Sales and Marketing Manager.

Carlos Kytka will be responsible for ensuring that the gay travel trade is widely recognised as a major sector of the tourism industry. He will work with bodies such as national tourist boards, tourism schools and government departments so that they recognise the strength of the sector. He will also help them to develop the facilities and attitudes necessary to attract gay tourists.

Trained in marketing and hotel management at the universities of Vienna and Cornell, Carlos has 15 years’ experience in managing 5 star hotels in London, Berlin and Vienna. He is also a qualified teacher in business and economics. Aged 44, Carlos comes from Vienna and speaks English, German, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian. He is currently developing a gay resort in the South of France with his partner, Paul. He will work with the IGLTA’s existing national representatives in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Gay tourism is a booming sector of the travel market. Research estimates that the gay community has a total spending power of around $610 billion in the USA alone and $27 billion in the UK. The research also showed that the gay community has a much higher propensity to travel than heterosexuals. In America, 97% of gay people took a holiday each year, against a national average of 64%. And 84% of gay people in America hold a passport, compared with just 29% of the general population.

Europe remains the top destination for gay travellers. The growth of cheap airlines has dramatically increased the number of short breaks within Europe. And in a recent poll in an American gay travel magazine, readers voted Italy their favourite destination and Paris their favourite city.
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“The importance of gay tourism is already being recognised by many national tourist boards” says Carlos. “VisitBritain, Maison de la France and many others already run promotional campaigns specifically aimed at gay people”.

And individual cities are competing with each other to attract gay visitors. “Each year the IGLTA runs fact-finding visits for gay tour operators to cities wanting to promote themselves as destinations for gay people” says Carlos, “In recent years European cities, such as Lisbon, Antwerp, Cologne and Viareggio have all enthusiastically hosted symposia with us”.

“There is clear evidence that now is the right time to expand our efforts in Europe” said John Tanzella, the IGLTA’s Executive Director, “and we are very excited to announce the addition of Carlos to our team. This now gives the IGLTA regional managers in Europe, the USA and Australia”.

Carlos will also be looking to increase the number of European gay travel businesses joining the IGLTA, whose membership now stands at over 1,000 companies worldwide. “It is important for gay tourism that we are a strong organisation so that we are appreciated by the wider tourist industry” said Carlos. “But at the same time it’s good for our individual members to mix with other gay travel companies from all over the world and learn from each other”.

For more information on the IGLTA, visit www.iglta.com

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