c+p digital

Conversion driven digital marketing agency, focussed on creative content.

pride

The LGBTQ+ Community’s Impact on Travel and Tourism

by

Folks – three cheers for the fact that we’re halfway through 2020! Woohoo!! #ByeFelicia

Canada Day AND Pride Month have both come and gone, and celebrations for both were quite different this year!

Toronto’s always highly anticipated Pride Parade/Pride Weekend was, of course, taken virtual due to Covid-19. And while this isn’t the first event to go virtual due to the pandemic, and it was super fun and well attended, it also left a massive economic hole in its wake.

How massive? Check these numbers from Pride/Pride Weekend, 2019:

🌈 1.7 million+ Pride Toronto attendees

🌈 $100,000+ donated to charity

🌈 A whopping $374 million to Ontario’s GDP

🌈 $149 million in tax revenue

🌈 And events directly supported 3,392 jobs

That’s why we wanted to chat with Dale McDermott, COO of Canada’s LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce. He shared some amazing statistics with us about the dollar-power impact the LGBTQ+ community has on business in general, and travel and tourism specifically.

He is also vehemently vocal (and so he should be!) about why it behooves those in the travel industry to give their marketing a shake, become more inclusive, and tap into what is a year-round, $12 billion-dollar travel market.

As he says, if any group of consumers is going to help our economy bounce back post-Covid-19, it’s the LGBTQ+ community.

It’s a fascinating conversation, and you can access the entire episode with Dale by clicking here, or, if you prefer to get the “appetizer version,” just keep reading!

Opportunities for Businesses Big and Small

“We know that the LGBT plus travel market is worth around $12 billion, year-round. And that basically means, for the average trip, the average traveler is spending about 1800 dollars per trip, which – when you compare that to the general population – that’s about seven times higher. And we also know that, given COVID, this represents a massive opportunity because the Canadian traveler is really going to have to look local in terms of what their travel focus is going to be and where they’re going to go. So, our message to cities, decision makers, and businesses all across Canada is this represents a significant opportunity. From a business perspective, this is a lot of money. Certainly, as we’re looking to exit COVID and reopen our economy in a safe way that the LGBT plus travel market is going to be one of the first industries and categories to bounce back. It’s a big opportunity and think of ways about how to attract that traveler.”

Businesses Take Note: Pride is a Year ‘Round Thing

“As a chamber of commerce, we represent businesses and 365 days of the year. And that means we’re highlighting that this is a really sizable part of Canada’s economy. LGBTQ+ tourists want to travel 365 days of the year. Sure, they might want to go more in summer because of the weather. But, it’s a really sizable opportunity for businesses. If you’re looking at the cold hard business case for this, they spent seven times more than the average traveler. So if you’re a business, you know, anywhere in Canada, and you’re looking at your strategy planning for exiting COVID-19 well, that should really be one of your primary targets – that this is a really important and high spending category of traveler that I want to get into my businesses, get spending and purchasing our products. So, that moves us into the next question, which is going to be ‘How do I do that?’”

Include Diversity, Inclusion and Safety in your Business AND your Marketing

“From our research, we know that safety is one of the major considerations. And costs, along having access to culture, of course. But we do know that safety is actually the biggest standout point. Certainly, when I’m talking to my friends about where I want to travel or what influences my travel choices, I know that whenever I’m traveling, I want to feel safe. It’s my vacation, it’s my time, and I don’t want to have to be looking over my shoulder if I’m with my partner or whatever and feel uncomfortable. Businesses have to ask themselves, ‘What am I doing to show that I’m welcoming the LGBTQ+ population? And it’s not a case that you might be doing something negative or actively against the community, but you have to be actively supporting them. For example, it could be something as simple as the advertising photographs in your website, are you using diverse people? Are you using a couple that might be two men or two women? And then that even transcends and into other examples. Are the images that you’re using reflective of the diverse society that Canada is? And so, it’s a mix of smaller things and bigger things, which I think businesses need to be more aware of.”

24/7, 365

“I think going the extra mile – not just supporting pride – but actively supporting the community 365 days of the year. Part of what we’re doing in the chamber of commerce is rolling out a tourism program throughout the next year. The whole mandate of this project is to ensure that businesses and tourism destination operators all across Canada are market ready and are able to accommodate and attract the LGBTQ+ traveler. In addition to diversity and inclusion training for businesses all across Canada, making sure they’re USING inclusive practices. We’re also engaging in destination audits. So we’re going to be going to various destinations across Canada and auditing them to see, first of all, how are they faring up against the benchmarks which we have devised, and, then following up with recommendations, and we’re also going to be engaging in a series of market ready seminars. And what we’re doing there is to again, work with local businesses all across Canada to see if they are market ready. What has to be considered in order to attract that traveler. It’s a year-round process, and we need to move past it just being a Pride focus. And again, purely from the business perspective, this is a sizable part of Canada’s economy, there’s a sizable spend here. So, it makes business sense to attract this traveler, and we are ready to travel!!”

Aren’t we all.

Aren’t. We. All. *sobs*

For more from Dale, as well as all our previous episodes, you can find us over on Apple Podcasts.

#54 – The LGBTQ+ Community’s Impact on Tourism with Dale McDermott

by

It’s time for another episode of the 4 AM Report, and folks – we’re halfway through 2020! Woohoo!! 🦠🎉🦠🎉 #ByeFelicia

This week, we chat with Dale McDermott, COO of Canada’s LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce, about the impact of the LGBTQ+ community on travel and tourism. 

For example, taking Pride 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍🌈 and the Pride Parade/Weekend virtual due to Covid-19, while super fun and well attended, left a massive economic hole in its wake. 

How massive? Check these numbers from Pride/Pride Weekend, 2019:

🌈 1.7 million+ Pride Toronto attendees

🌈 $100,000+ donated to charity

🌈 A whopping $374 million to Ontario’s GDP

🌈 $149 million in tax revenue

🌈 And events directly supported 3,392 jobs 

Dale talks about the LGBTQ+ traveler, and why it behooves those in the travel industry to give their marketing a shake, become more inclusive, and tap into what is, year-round, a $12 billion-dollar travel market. 💰💰💰

It’s the power of love, friends! 💞 💘 💞

Enjoy! 

About Dale

Dale McDermott is Chief Operating Officer of CGLCC, Canada’s LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce. Established in 2003, CGLCC is a trusted partner linking LGBT+ businesses in Canada to the wider business community.

Dale has held many leadership positions within not-for-profit organizations. Dale is a member of the Board of Directors of Canadian Club Toronto, Canada’s preeminent public affairs podium. He is a member of the Banff Forum, a network of young Canadian leaders from the private, public and not-for-profit sectors committed to reinvigorating debate in Canada about key public policy issues with the goal of building a better Canada.

Contact 

dale@cglcc.ca

#52 – The LGBTQ Community and Workplace Discrimination with Colin Druhan

by

Cheers to all you woke folk (literally and figuratively!) who are doing the hard work of fighting for equality and social justice for all! 🎉✊🌈

It’s time for the 4am report! June is Pride Month here in Canada – a celebration of LGBTQ-plus people, 🏳️‍🌈rainbows 🏳️‍🌈abound, (usually) parades and parties are had (thanks, Covid) 😭, and it’s generally a month of festivity and equality.

Except when it isn’t.

Which is why we wanted to talk to this week’s guest, Colin Druhan 

The Executive Director at Pride at Work Canada, his mission is to hold people accountable when it comes to true inclusion for queer and trans people in the workplace.

The not-for-profit supports employers and their diversity and inclusion strategies, including:

🌈 Sexual orientation

🌈 Gender identity

🌈 And gender expression

This is extremely important work, because as Colin says, “You don’t change the system overnight.” 

Have a listen. Because you WILL learn something. 

About Colin

Colin joined Pride at Work Canada/Fierté au travail Canada as Executive Director in 2014. Since then, he has prioritized the extension of the organization’s reach outside of Canada’s largest cities into a wide range of communities across the country.

Originally from Cole Harbour, NS, he has lived in Toronto for fifteen years, during which time he has consistently engaged with queer, trans and 2S communities through working and volunteering with organizations like The 519, the Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film & Video Festival and the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation. Connect with Colin on LinkedIn or email him at colin.druhan@prideatwork.ca.

Read Colin’s writing for IN Magazine.

 

The LGBTQ Community and Workplace Discrimination

by

Cheers to all you woke folk (literally and figuratively!) who are doing the hard work of fighting for equality and social justice for all!

It’s time for the 4am report! June is Pride Month here in Canada – a celebration of LGBTQ-plus people, rainbows abound, (usually) parades and parties are had (thanks, Covid), and it’s generally a month of festivity and equality.

Except when it isn’t.

Which is why we wanted to talk to this week’s guest, Colin Druhan.

The Executive Director at Pride at Work Canada, his mission is to hold people accountable when it comes to true inclusion for queer and trans people in the workplace.

The not-for-profit supports employers and their diversity and inclusion strategies, including:

🌈 Sexual orientation

🌈 Gender identity

🌈 And gender expression

This is extremely important work, because as Colin says, “You don’t change the system overnight.”

The LGBTQ Community and Workplace Discrimination 

It’s no exaggeration to say that the first 6 months of 2020 have been LIT! First, Covid-19 raged across the globe, causing no amount of pain, physically and mentally. It shattered our economies and, as death rates soared, exposed the very real inequalities that exist between BIPOC and white people.

The murder (one of many, we might add) of George Floyd triggered social unrest like we haven’t seen since the 1960’s. In the immortal words of Peter Finch in the classic film Network, people everywhere were “…mad as hell and not going to take it anymore!” Honestly if you haven’t seen this film it’s a must see.

Then, right smack dab in the middle of all of this social unrest, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that “…workers cannot be fired for being gay or transgender – a blockbuster win for members of the LGBT community.”

Wait. WHAT??

Yes. That’s correct. “While workers in about half the country were protected by local laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, there was no federal law that explicitly barred LGBT workers from being fired on that basis.”

And before you get all “smug Canadian” it wasn’t until 2017 that “…Canada officially amended the Human Rights Act to outlaw employment discrimination based on gender identity and expression.”

According to research by the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion:

·   30% of Canadian LGBTQ employees report workplace discrimination.

·   Of their “straight” colleagues, only 3% felt discriminated against at work.

·   And between LQBTQ and non-LGBTQ colleagues? Thirty-three percent of the first said they had witnessed discrimination, while only 21% of the second said the same.

Which brings us to today’s guest.

Pride at Work Canada

Colin Druhan is the Executive Director at Pride at Work Canada, a national, not for profit organization that supports employers and their diversity and inclusion strategies, particularly around the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

What keeps Colin up at night? Let’s let him do the talking.

“We’ve seen a lot of really bold statements from a lot of big companies over the last couple of weeks about, you know, inclusion, and trying to build better cultures. And what keeps me up at night is that we’ve seen from the past that a lot of organizations, they really want to build those cultures, but they don’t necessarily have the right tools for the job. And I worry that sometimes people aren’t going to be able to live up to those commitments that they’re making to their employees in the public.”

There are No Quick Fixes to Diversity Inclusion

“[There’ve been] a lot of statements from CEOs and really important people. And I was really pleased to see them joining a conversation that was prompted by these protests that we’re seeing all around the world, about people entering a conversation that a lot of folks have been having for a long time. The fact that there’s people who don’t feel equally included in the workplace, in society, and also an unequal application of our justice system. So, a lot of people are joining this conversation that’s kind of already been in progress. And one of the things that we know doesn’t work with diversity inclusion is quick fixes. There’s no kind of magic, silver bullet to solve these issues.”

The Supreme Court Said WHAT?

“It wasn’t what I was expecting from the current makeup of the Supreme Court of the United States. And it’s interesting that they continue to make these landmark decisions during Pride Month, they made a decision on marriage during Pride Month, a couple years ago. I think there’s some drama queen in the court that knows the kind of impact that’s going to make when they make these announcements in June!!”

“This is great, but by no means does it mean instant equality for everyone. Because one of the things that we can take from some of the critiques that people have, in the current protests that are happening, is there are laws and then there’s the application of those laws. And then there’s whether or not people have the means to kind of fight for themselves in those laws. In Ontario where I live, sexual orientation has been a protected in the Ontario Human Rights Act for a long time. But does every person who gets fired because they’re gay have the means to get a lawyer to help them without legal challenge? No. And, you know, do we still see poor employment outcomes for trans and gender non-conforming folks, gender diverse folks? Absolutely. So, it’s not a panacea that fixes everything. It’s one step on our way to full equality. And it’s one more thing, one more tool that we can use to kind of build that future that we keep talking about.”

How Are Canadian Employers Doing So Far?

“We actually just did a great piece of research with the Institute for Gender and the Economy at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto – a survey of, I think it was 69 large workplaces, in Canada, around their trans inclusion policies. What are some of the practices that they’re engaging in? And we saw some movement, but a lot of the movement was superficial. People are really good at basic accommodations, a policy on non-discrimination, trying to put out the trans pride flag, that sort of thing. But we have some ways to go on some of the more fully inclusive practices around you know, health coverage for medically necessary, transition related care, really specific strategies around employee engagement, particularly around hiring, and supporting the advancement of trans and gender diverse people in the workplace.”

“Those aren’t things that aren’t fit for a fun sizzle reel, or a cool Pride ad – you don’t put them on a float at pride. So, they may be less well known amongst the business community. We wanted to shine some light on the fact that those visible things are great, but there’s a lot of invisible things that your business needs to do to really catch up with what’s needed with this community. So that’s specific to transgender diverse communities. But similarly, with sexual orientation, where you might have a ton of folks who are really visible in the organization as our leaders who identify as gay and lesbian. [But we don’t see as many] bi-people and we see a lot of “bi-phobia”. Even within queer communities. I see straight people being bi phobic. I see gay people being bi phobic. And that leads to a lot fewer bisexual people being out in the workplace. We don’t see as many bisexual leaders. You can see how complicated it gets with how many different identities we have in the community. And sometimes you need to have a strategy that’s for the whole community. And sometimes you need to really segment it based on some of the really specific life challenges of different folks within the community. And it can seem really confusing to some people outside, but we love it because we love how diverse our community is!”

And we love it too, Colin.

We hope you’ll have a listen to the entire podcast episode – find us over on Apple Podcasts – and Happy Pride, everyone!

And if you’re losing sleep over a particular marketing/business related problem during this Covid-19 economic uncertainty, or if you have a guest idea on the topic, let us know. Drop us a line at c+p digital.

And as always, sweet dreams…well, hopefully!