All inclusive | A Maine inn's new gay-focused marketing effort is part of a national trend that reaches out to a valuable demographic

When the titanic retailer Wal-Mart last month hired a public relations firm that specializes in marketing to gay and lesbian consumers, it should have erased any doubt about the power of that demographic in the U.S. economy. Wal-Mart, though, was just catching on to what other firms have known for years ˆ— gay and lesbian consumers, with a U.S. population of at least 15 million and $610 billion in annual buying power, according to Community Marketing, a San Francisco-based marketing firm, tend to be well educated, affluent and loyal. In other words, the perfect customers.

Maine's potential share of that market is significant. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, Portland is in the top ten cities nationally for concentration of gay and lesbian domestic partners, and local businesses have been marketing their goods and services to Maine's gay population for the better part of a decade. Many use word of mouth to generate awareness, but the Internet has become an invaluable tool for local firms in the search for gay and lesbian customers ˆ— and it's the marketing channel that inspired one of the most recent attempts by a local business to attract that clientele.

In June, Frank Isganitis and P.J. Walter, owners of Rockland's LimeRock Inn, teamed up with Gerry Weiss and Craig Cox of the Riverbend Inn in Chocorua, N.H., to launch Gay Inns of New England (gayinnsofnewengland.com), a joint marketing effort that offers travel packages geared toward gay and lesbian vacationers. The packages vary in length and offer stays at both inns, along with gift cards redeemable at local businesses.

"We've learned the power of packaging," Isganitis says. "So what we're hoping to accomplish with the Gay Inns of New England website is to make it easy for [gay or lesbian tourists] to capture the essence of a complete New England vacation just by visiting the two of us."

Gays and lesbians don't only look for businesses that cater to them specifically when planning vacations. According to a national poll conducted this summer by Rochester, N.Y.-based Harris Interactive, gays and lesbians say it's important to them that service providers like financial planners and real estate brokers understand that their families have unique needs, and that institutions not discriminate.

That tendency ˆ— combined with the buying power of the demographic ˆ— makes it understandable that certain businesses would target their marketing specifically to gay and lesbian consumers. But such a strategy, say Maine businesses owners who've adopted it, requires an understanding that gay and lesbian consumers are not a monolithic demographic and have widely different needs.

More challenging, says Isganitis, is crafting a strategy that taps into the gay community without branding the business as exclusively gay. The proper message, he says, isn't one of exclusivity but of acceptance.

A $55 billion industry
When Isganitis and Walter bought the LimeRock Inn almost two years ago ˆ— leaving behind corporate jobs in New Jersey ˆ— they decided not to overtly promote the inn as gay owned and operated. Still, Isganitis says they weren't ignoring the issue. "We kind of feel like it's self evident when you visit our website that we are a couple."

A listing in the Gay Yellow Pages and on the gay travel website purpleroofs.com helped the Limerock cultivate a small but loyal gay customer base ˆ— enough to make Isganitis consider further focusing the inn's gay marketing efforts. The innkeepers met their counterparts at the Riverbend Inn in New Hampshire almost by accident: Both inns are represented by publicist Marti Mayne of Yarmouth-based Maynely Marketing, who suggested the two team up. "It took us a year to get started and get to know the business," says Isganitis, "and then we got together and the rest sort of went from there."

Since the Gay Inns of New England website launched in June ˆ— too late, Isganitis thinks, to have a significant effect on this summer's business ˆ— it has seen a steady growth in traffic, although both inns have yet to book a package. "It's not really a concern for us because I really do think it's going to be a slow burn," he says.

Perhaps his lack of concern has to do with the size of the potential market. Gay and lesbian travel is a $55 billion industry, according to Community Marketing, and last year 97% percent of gays and lesbians surveyed took a vacation ˆ— well over the national average of 64%. To some extent the stereotype of "dual income with no kids" holds true for gay travelers ˆ— the median income reported in the Community Marketing survey is $79,000, and 54% are in committed relationships with a median duration of eight years. But an increasing number have children, a development that is sure to change gay marketing in the years to come.

The Internet is the perfect place for small businesses like the LimeRock to appeal to potential gay and lesbian customers because 92% of gay and lesbian travelers booked trips on the Web, according to Community Marketing. "I think that what is appealing about Gay Inns of New England and other inns that are owned by gay innkeepers is that sense of comfort for the gay traveler," Mayne says. "There's room for many more [websites like Gay Inns of New England] as in any kind of niche website marketing. The more niche marketing they do, the more new guests they find."

A strong presence on the Internet can take the guesswork out of choosing a gay-friendly business for potential customers, says Mayne. And 76% of gays and lesbians said they are more likely to book a trip somewhere they know to be gay friendly, according to Community Marketing. So while gay travel sites like purpleroofs.com have been mainstays of the gay travel industry for years, gay-focused marketing has gone mainstream recently, most notably with Philadelphia's "Get your history straight and your nightlife gay" campaign in 2005. That pitch resulted in a 30% increase in spending on the part of gay travelers, according to the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp.

An aggressive marketing strategy like Philadelphia's wasn't a realistic option for the LimeRock Inn. Isganitis and Walter were wary of becoming too focused on gay business at the expense of heterosexual clientele. And it wasn't as if the LimeRock had many empty beds to fill ˆ— in 2005, the inn's first year under Isganitis and Walter, revenues increased 27%, and this year Isganitis is anticipating an even bigger jump as word of Gay Inns of New England spreads.

As the LimeRock Inn prepares to expand its gay and lesbian business, though, it must draw those travelers away from well-known Maine destinations like Ogunquit and Portland. For Isganitis, that means highlighting the midcoast experience of Rockland as almost a quiet alternative to the bar and dance club scene in Ogunquit. "The idea [is that] you can experience quintessential New England communities with our flare or our angle on it," he says. "[Rockland] is not a gay mecca by any means, but it is a socio-economically and culturally diverse community that is gay friendly."

At the same time, the niche marketing strategy must avoid the appearance of pandering to gay and lesbian consumers. Gay travelers often are disinclined to patronize businesses that they see as exclusively appealing to their demographic, according to a recent report in Secaucus, N.J.-based TravelWeekly. But Isganitis doesn't think the LimeRock will fall into that trap. As one of the historic inns of Rockland, the LimeRock has joined five area bed and breakfasts to offer wedding packages and getaways for seniors. Gay Inns of New England, Isganitis says, is a way of augmenting the business that's already there. "You don't want to be known solely as serving [gay and lesbian] clientele because that is going to narrow your market, and for us this is where we derive our livelihood," he says.

Serving a diverse population
Just as gay and lesbian travelers represent a large market for hoteliers like Isganitis and Walter, they are also an up and coming segment of the homebuyers' market. Last year, the national gay and lesbian specialty brokerage website gayrealestate.com recorded more $30 million in sales in 2004 ˆ— double the previous year's amount.

Deborah Rutter, a realtor specializing in gay and lesbian customers for Coldwell Banker's residential brokerage in Portland, says its hard to put a number on Portland's gay and lesbian home sales but that she sees a growing presence in her own clients. "Some people prefer to keep their relationships with me private ˆ— that you're not going to ask questions is good enough for them. Other people want to tell me their life story, so it's hard to quantify," she says. "Certainly people who know me and people who have bought or sold with me can say that I'm open about dealing with those folks and meeting them where they are."

Rutter prefers a passive approach in marketing herself to potential gay and lesbian clients. Like the LimeRock Inn, she channels most of her gay-focused marketing through the Internet. That strategy, she says, is the most effective way to reach customers looking for a gay-friendly experience without sacrificing a wider client base. In addition to listing on gay real estate websites like Rainbow Referrals, Rutter recently joined the Rainbow Business and Professional Association, a group of more than 160 Maine businesses dedicated to spending "gay dollars within the gay community." After that, she says, the best marketing comes by word of mouth.

According to Rutter, most businesses marketing to gays and lesbians simply assume that they are dealing with an affluent, unencumbered demographic ˆ— assumptions she says are less true today than ever. "The assumption is that you've got two people with no kids and both have a lot of moneyˆ… that's not necessarily the case," she says.

While national surveys have revealed that gay and lesbian incomes are higher than the national average, Rutter also sees a growing number of gay families settling in Portland. "Certainly it's become more acceptable for couples and for single folks to expand their families," she says. "It's as diverse as the rest of the population in terms of who they bring to the table."

The needs of a gay or lesbian homebuyer run the gamut, says Rutter, so a realtor is well served by a soft touch. Rutter has encountered situations in which gay or lesbian clients prefer to keep their orientation private, wishing, for example, not to inform neighbors of a domestic partnership. So knowing when to ask the right question and how to respect a gay or lesbian client's needs is critical, she says.

Transactions also can be made more complex with gay or lesbian couples, from setting up deeds to protecting a buyer's privacy, but it's nothing that an unmarried heterosexual couple would have to deal with. "It's just a different kind of service, no more than you'd add for someone else that's doing something creative," Rutter says.

While some business owners may need a little time to learn the nuances of selling a product or service to the gay community, simply creating a marketing message that touts acceptance is something that many businesses can, and have, adopted, say Rutter and Isganitis. "I don't know if there's any place left in the country where I would feel overtly in danger," says Isganitis, who, before he moved to the state, used to vacation in north central Maine and found the area to be as welcoming as the coast.

Rutter adds that she has never encountered any backlash against her marketing efforts toward gays and lesbians, either from a potential buyer or seller. "Everybody who is in business to make money," she says, "realizes that all money is the same color."