It is not always easy to fight misconceptions in Asia. But the coming ITB Asia finally managed to get a “Pink Corner” for gay tourism at this coming edition in Singapore. It is a major achievement for Singapore. The city struggles between its wish to become Southeast Asia’s most cosmopolitan metropolis and the conservative impulses from Government’s elites…
MANILA- Rika Jean-François is the key manager in charge of corporate social responsibility for ITB Berlin. Under her jurisdiction fall also the development and promotion of niche markets, including LGBT travel (the “politically correct” acronym for Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transvestite). Gay and Lesbian travel is one of the fastest growing market segments in the industry with large potential for further growth. On average, gay and lesbian households have a 30 per cent higher purchasing power than their heterosexual counterpart. For a couple of years ITB Berlin has set up a corner and then part of a hall dedicated to gay and lesbian travel. Since 2011, the show is also active with a LGBT Tourism platform which includes a seminar organised in cooperation with the IGLTA (International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association). The event will take place again at the coming ITB Berlin 2013 while a larger LGBT pavilion will be set up in Hall 2-1.
What about the Asian edition of ITB in Singapore? Rika Jean-Francois admits that she ran into trouble to make the concept accepted the first time she wanted LGBT Travel to be present at ITB Singapore. “We tried to have a small gay and lesbian travel corner last year but we were rebuffed by the Singapore Tourism Board. They told us that such a corner cannot be accepted in Singapore”, she explains.
Singapore remains indeed a conservative State although gay business have been flourishing over the last 15 years –they are many gay clubs and bars in Chinatown- while the art scene embraced many times the thematic of homosexuality in the Singapore society. The “Nanny State” appears to permanently fluctuate under a mix of progressive and outdated thinking.
While Singapore still considers anal sex between partners of same gender as illegal, enforcement is not in practice implemented. In October 2007, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told Singapore Parliament, that “we recognise that homosexuals are part of our society. They have a place in our society and are entitled to their private lives.” This position was reinforced in 2009 when Deputy PM Wong Kan Seng emphasized that Singapore is a “stable society with traditional, heterosexual family values, but with space for homosexuals to live their private lives and contribute to the society.”
Meanwhile, it seems that for ITB Asia, it was essentially a question of terminology. “We finally will have a “Pink Corner” for this ITB Singapore. This is a major achievement. We now need to show that LGBT tourism is just a market segment which simply cannot be ignored from an economic point of view but above all, from a human rights point of view”, says Rika Jean-François.
ITB corporate social responsibility manager hopes also to get some kind of support from PATA to highlight the fact that LGBT travel is an interesting niche segment for the travel industry like any others. In Asia, many people in the industry still believe that gay and lesbian tourism is generally sex tourism. “This is an idea that we must fight. Many LGBT are well-educated, experienced travellers and form an excellent niche target for culture, shopping, adventure and luxury tourism”, she concludes.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
