---
title: Why Tourism Offices Should Be Celebrating Gay Marriage
description: Here's our look at what the gay marriage Supreme Court ruling means for tourism offices.
---

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# [Why Tourism Offices Should Be Celebrating Gay Marriage](https://www.turnerpr.com/spin-kitchen/update-tourism-offices-celebrating-gay-marriage)

 Written by [Angela Berardino](https://www.turnerpr.com/spin-kitchen/author/angela-berardino) | July 06, 2015

*Last fall, Turner PR [celebrated the Supreme Court's "decision not to decide"](https://turnerpr.com/blog/tourism-offices-celebrating-weeks-supreme-court-ruling/) regarding same sex marriage. And we celebrated again when the Supreme Court [struck down bans on gay marriage](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/06/26/417717613/supreme-court-rules-all-states-must-allow-same-sex-marriages) this past June. Here's our look at what the ruling means for tourism offices. * With same sex marriage legal in all 50 states, there are a LOT of happy LGBT couples with whom we can’t wait to celebrate. But there’s another reason for tourism offices, specifically, to rejoice: not only do destination weddings account for 24% of all weddings (and the average wedding price tag in 2013 was a record-breaking $30,000, [according to TheKnot](http://www.xogroupinc.com/press-releases-home/2014-press-releases/2014-03-27-real-weddings-study-average-cost-of-wedding.aspx)), but even non-marital LGBT tourists quite often choose to spend their dollars in socially-supportive economies. And that’s significant; LGBT spending globally on tourism was projected at [more than $200 billion ](http://www.wtmlondon.com/page.cfm/action=press/libID=1/libEntryID=2343/listID=1)in 2014. For  [Utah](https://turnerpr.com/travel-tourism-and-real-estate/utah.html) (full disclosure: a Turner PR client), Virginia, Indiana, Oklahoma and Wisconsin, this means that the marketing and promotion of tourism to their states has just opened up a bigger opportunity for market share with a lucrative audience. And there’s ample precedent that wedding spending alone will have a significant impact in the coming year. Let’s look at New York State, which legalized gay marriage in 2011, as a case study:

- By 2012, the state cited an economic boon of more than $259 million to New York City alone.
- The state issued more than 8,200 same-sex licenses in the first year, accounting for more than 10% of the overall licenses.
- Same-sex couples spent an average $9,039 on their weddings, while 31% spent $10,000 or more.
- More than 200,000 guests flocked to New York City from other parts of the state or country to partake in the celebrations.
- Hotels booked nearly 236,000 nights at an average rate of $275 per night.

 Other states are benefiting, or looking to benefit. Massachusetts, which first legalized same-sex marriage in 2004, gained $111 million from 2004 to 2009, according to a study from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law released this summer. A working paper from the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization predicted that the Aloha State, which legalized same-sex unions roughly a year ago, could bring in an additional $69 million a year from 2014 to 2017. So, what should tourism offices be doing to capitalize on the new rulings?

- Update your website’s LGBT wedding content immediately, including clear information about how and where to obtain licenses. There will be a lot of searching going on, and building credibility and history online is key for online authority.
- Check out how Hawaii hotels and resorts have embraced specific offers and marketing; they’ve been creative without patronizing.
- Consider joining the [IGLTA](http://www.iglta.org/), The International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association, “the world’s leading global travel network dedicated to connecting and educating LGBT travelers and the businesses that welcome and support them along the way.”
- Before you start any major campaigns, do your homework. There are a number of great sources and media with deep expertise; I’d recommend following Andrew Collins (he has a great [recurring column](http://gaytravel.about.com/bio/Andrew-Collins-24279.htm)); [Out Traveler](http://www.outtraveler.com/) has been a leading editorial voice for decades.

[View full post](https://www.turnerpr.com/spin-kitchen/update-tourism-offices-celebrating-gay-marriage)

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