Debt-ravaged Greece 's biggestindustry is missing income from a group of visitors that spendsmore than $140 billion a year.
Gay and lesbian tourists, who for decades flocked to theislands of Mykonos and Lesbos, have removed Greece from theirlist of top destinations because of discrimination, according tosurveys by Amsterdam-based OutNow Consulting . The governmentsays it intends to boost tourism and will change the law soGreece follows France and the U.K. in recognizing same-sexpartnerships.
"Rights do not cost much in terms of finances, but they doa lot to promote the countries that adopt them," said MartinChristensen, co-chairman of ILGA-Europe , a Brussels-based rightsgroup. "If Greece opens marriage to same-sex couples, theinternational media will for once give the country good pressthat would boost morale and can increase revenue."
Tourism accounts for one in five jobs and about 16 percentof the Greek economy , which the European Commission forecastswill shrink 3.8 percent this year after a 4.4 percentcontraction in 2010. Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos saidon Aug. 3 that spending by vacationers will be a main driver ofGreece's return to prosperity.
Spending by non-residents in Greece increased 12.6 percentin the first half of the year compared with the first six monthsof 2010, the Bank of Greece said Aug. 18. Greece's debt pilestood at about 43 percent more than the size of the economy.
"Given their propensity to spend a higher share of theirwallet on travel and entertainment, then a Greek strategy toappeal to gay visitors is sensible and perhaps timely," saidBob Witeck, who runs Witeck-Combs Communications , a Washington-based firm advising clients on marketing to gay households.
While the Greek Orthodox church opposes gay marriage, the Justice, Transparency and Human Rights Ministry established inJuly last year a committee to examine changing existing familylaw to recognize same-sex civil partnerships.
The group's report is being studied now and the governmentaims to introduce legislation allowing the registration of gayrelationships, a ministry official said by telephone on Aug. 19,speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with policy.
The value of the international gay and lesbian travelmarket in 2010, based on a survey of 18 countries, was $142billion, according to the OutNow Global LGBT2020 Study oflesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender travelers.
Greece failed to make the list of the top 10 countrieswhere gay travelers were interested in taking a holiday in thenext three years, according to the survey. Athens didn't appearamong the top 20 city destinations.
The U.S., where the District of Columbia and six states,including New York since June, allow same-sex marriage andFrance, which permits civil unions, and Spain , where gay couplesalso can marry, were the top three countries. New York , Sydney and Rio de Janeiro , with gay pride events attended by more than4 million spectators, were the top three cities.
Changing the law to recognize gay and lesbian couples mightattract more gay visitors to Greece compared with places such as Turkey , which also doesn't recognize non-heterosexualrelationships, said Gregory Vallianatos, chairman of GreekHelsinki Monitor , the Greek national committee of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights.
"Allowing same-sex civil partnership in Greece would setthe country way above other countries in the Balkans and easternMediterranean and would certainly boost gay tourist numbers,"Vallianatos said from his Athens office.
In drafting a new law, Greece would follow touristdestinations as far away as Nepal.
The Supreme Court in the Himalayan country decriminalizedhomosexuality in 2007, called for the introduction of equalrights for gay and lesbians and asked for the creation of acommission to study same-sex marriages.
"Nepal can earn good income from gay and lesbian visitorsas they spend more and travel more frequently than theirstraight counterparts," said lawmaker Sunil Babu Pant, who alsoheads Nepal's Blue Diamond Society gay rights group. "Gays arealso willing to support those countries that are gay-friendly."
Greece's Ministry of Tourism and Culture for the first timeadvertised the Athens Gay Pride this year. The ministry, whichdidn't subsidize any of the events, included the " AthensRainbow Week' ' in its highlights on the web site of the GreekNational Tourism Office.
OutNow research based on actual spending shows that in2006, the first full year of civil partnerships in the U.K., theeconomy was boosted by 130 million pounds ($212.9 million) fromspending on rings, receptions and honeymoons.
It represents "a large and growing pool of new consumerspending which economies such as Greece would do well toposition for," said Ian Johnson, who runs OutNow, which workswith the German National Tourism Office , Switzerland Tourism , Madrid Tourism and the Stockholm Visitors Board .
About 75 percent of gay travelers will seek a hotel thatwelcomes same-sex couples, according to Hannah Burden,spokeswoman for the Thomson, Thomson Cruises and First Choiceholiday brands of Tui Travel Plc (TT/) , the U.K. majority-owned unitof Germany-based Tui AG (TUI1) and Europe 's largest tour operator.
Thomson last year started marketing vacations for gay andlesbian travelers, including wedding packages to the Spanishisland of Ibiza. The company uses the GayComfort Certifiedaccreditation system, developed by OutNow and endorsed by the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association .
"There is definitely a segment in the gay community thatspends their vacation money on destinations that are supportiveof the community," said John Tanzella, CEO of the FortLauderdale , Florida-based association. Greece "could absolutelyincrease its revenues," he said.
To contact the reporter on this story:Paul Tugwell in Athens at ptugwell1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:Angela Cullen at acullen8@bloomberg.net
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