Produced By: Montréal’s Gay Village Welcoming and Increasing LGBT Visitors March, 2016 Welcoming LGBT Travelers 2016 ÉTUDE SUR LE VILLAGE GAI DE MONTRÉAL Partenariat entre la SDC du Village, la Ville de Montréal et le gouvernement du Québec › La Société de développement commercial du Village et ses fiers partenaires financiers, que sont la Ville de Montréal et le gouvernement du Québec, sont heureux de présenter cette étude réalisée par la firme Community Marketing & Insights. › Ce rapport présente les résultats d’un sondage réalisé auprès de la communauté LGBT du nord‐est des États‐ Unis (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, État de New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvanie, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginie, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois), du Canada (Ontario et Colombie‐Britannique) et de l’Europe francophone (France, Belgique, Suisse). Il dresse un portrait des intérêts des touristes LGBT et de leurs appréciations et perceptions du Village gai de Montréal. › La première section fait ressortir certaines constatations clés alors que la suite présente les données recueillies et offre une analyse plus en détail. Entre autres, l’appréciation des touristes qui ont visité Montréal et la perception de ceux qui n’en n’ont pas eu l’occasion. › L’objectif de ce sondage est de mieux outiller la SDC du Village dans ses démarches de promotion auprès des touristes LGBT. 2 Welcoming LGBT Travelers 2016 ABOUT CMI OVER 20 YEARS OF LGBT INSIGHTS › Community Marketing & Insights (CMI) has been conducting LGBT consumer research for over 20 years. Our practice includes online surveys, in‐depth interviews, intercepts, focus groups (on‐site and online), and advisory boards in North America and Europe. Industry leaders around the world depend on CMI’s research and analysis as a basis for feasibility evaluations, positioning, economic impact, creative testing, informed forecasting, measurable marketing planning and assessment of return on investment. › Key findings have been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, CBS News, NPR, CNN, Associated Press and many other international, national and regional media. › CMI’s research clients include leaders from a wide range of industries. In the past few years, studies have been produced for these and many other clients: Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, NYC & Company, Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau, Tourism Toronto, VISIT FLORIDA, Empire State Development Corp., Hyatt Hotel Corp, Starwood, Prudential, Wells Fargo Bank, Aetna, Target Brands, Johnson & Johnson, WNBA, United States Census Bureau, American Cancer Society, Kaiser Family Foundation and numerous other corporations and organizations across North America and around the world. 3 Table of Contents Research Methodology Page 5 Section One: Key Findings Page 8 Section Two: LGBT Visitors To Montréal Page 20 Section Three: LGBT Villages: Activities, Attitudes and Trends Page 27 Section Four: Visiting Montréal’s Gay Village Page 40 Section Five: Non-visitors to Montréal’s Gay Village Page 56 Section Six: LGBT, Media and Events Page 64 Section Seven: French Speaking European Gay Men and Montréal Page 78 Section Eight: In Their Own Words; Verbatim Questions Page 93 Section Nine: Pulse Survey Follow-up Questions Page 100 Welcoming LGBT Travelers 2016 METHODOLOGY ABOUT THE CMI LGBT PANEL › CMI has built a proprietary research panel of 70,000+ LGBT From March 1 to March 12, 2016, Community Marketing & Insights consumers through partnerships with more than 300 LGBT (CMI) fielded an online LGBT survey for Société de Développement publications, websites, blogs, social media, apps, events Commercial du Village. Participants were invited from the CMI research and organizations over a twenty‐year period. panel from three groups: Unites States LGBT residents living in states neighboring or near the province of Québec, LGBT residents of the › Importantly, the panel reflects the readership/membership Canadian provinces of Ontario and British Columbia, and LGBT European of a broad range of LGBT focused media outlets, French speakers, mostly living in France but also Switzerland and organizations and events. This means that the results Belgium. Participants completed an online survey of 10 to 12 minutes in summarized here are representative of consumers who are length and were given an incentive of a chance to win one of twenty “out” and interacting within the LGBT community. $50 cash prizes. This report concentrates on the participants from the United States and Canada, with a supplemental report of the European › The panel is used for LGBT research purposes only and is participants. The research oversampled men in order to get a higher never used for marketing purposes. All panel members are number of Montréal visitors for analysis. “active,” meaning they have participated in CMI research in the past two years. 5 Welcoming LGBT Travelers 2016 Participant Profile by Residence Total LGBT Participants • N = 1,817 USA N=1,100 CANADA N=486 EUROPE N=231 ME NH 2% VT 1% 1% NY MA 13% 86% 22% RI 2% MI CT 3% PA BC 7% NJ 5% 10% 37% ON OH DC 7% 63% 9% IL 6% VA MD 6% 12% 4% 5% 6 Base: USA+CAN Male n=964; USA+CAN Women n=524; NY, MA, PA n=496; ON n=307 Welcoming LGBT Travelers 2016 Participant Profile • United States and Canada Identity USA Canada Ethnicity USA Canada Gay Man* 59% 59% USA Canada Lesbian or Gay Woman 27% 27% Age 18 to 34 37% 40% White / of European descent 78% 81% Queer 11% 10% Age 35 to 50 32% 34% Black / of African descent 9% 2% Bisexual Woman 8% 9% Age 51 to 69 32% 26% Bisexual Man 5% 5% Latin(o/a) or of Hispanic descent 8% 3% Transgender 3% 1% Mixed ethnicity 5% 6% Pansexual 2% 2% Asian / of Asian descent 3% 8% Gender Queer 2% 1% Children Under 18 Native North American 2% 3% Living at Home Gender Fluid 2% 2% Other 1% 2% USA 9% Non‐binary 1% 1% Middle Eastern / Arab 1% 1% Canada 6% Trans Man 1% 0% Prefer not to answer 1% 1% Trans Woman 1% 0% Relationship USA Canada Single 36% 40% Education USA Canada Married 29% 19% Bachelor's Degree or In a committed relationship and living with partner 16% 20% 37% 47% Completed College In a committed relationship but not living with partner 11% 13% Master's/Graduate Degree Engaged to be Married 3% 2% 39% 20% or greater Widow / Widower 2% 0% Civil union / Domestic partner / Common Marriage 1% 5% High School 24% 33% Other or None of the above 1% 1% Base: USA 1100, Canada 486. *The research oversampled men in order to get a higher number of Montréal visitors for analysis. Most questions analyzed by gender. For some demographic questions, respondents were able to select more than one choice, so percentages may equal more than 100%. 7 Section One Key Findings Welcoming LGBT Travelers 2016 FINDING & Montréal’s Gay Village ranks #2 out of 11 LGBT RECOMMENDATION #1 neighborhoods tested worldwide. The research ranked LGBT neighborhoods in eleven cities worldwide. Among those who had actually visited each neighborhood, Montréal’s Gay Village ranked as the #2 LGBT neighborhood (only behind San Francisco’s Castro District). When visitors to Montréal were asked to rate the Montréal Gay Village experience, 75% of United States LGBT visitors and 72% of Canadian LGBT visitors ranked the neighborhood positively; with the rest rating it neutral (and less than 4% rating the neighborhood negatively). Clearly the Gay Village is a positive experience for LGBT tourists to Montréal. Montréal’s Gay Village is an attraction that should be widely promoted by tourism organizations and businesses in the city. FINDING & Most LGBTs visit LGBT neighborhoods while on RECOMMENDATION #2 vacation. 70% of the LGBTs in this study indicated that they visit gay neighborhoods while on vacation. Visiting restaurants and bars are the top priorities among LGBTs visiting LGBT neighborhoods, across all demographic groups. In addition, LGBT visitors are interested in the “street scene,” as well as LGBT history and street art. The majority of respondents indicated that they value LGBT neighborhoods as safe spaces for LGBT people and these neighborhoods are fun places to visit while on vacation. Visitors also visit shops in the neighborhood, but their interests are more “tourist” oriented, than shops that serve residents. 9 Welcoming LGBT Travelers 2016 Gay men visit and value the LGBT neighborhood FINDING & experience higher than lesbians. Lesbians may feel RECOMMENDATION #3 some discrimination in LGBT neighborhoods. There are gender differences in perceptions of LGBT neighborhoods. Based on multiple questions, we found that gay men are both more likely to visit and value the LGBT neighborhood experience than lesbians. This is not surprising, since 77% percent of lesbians indicated that they think LGBT neighborhoods are more for gay men. Right now, gay men are probably the easiest to influence to visit Montréal’s Gay Village. However, on the positive side, lesbians value LGBT neighborhoods as being safe places and they think that LGBT neighborhoods can be fun places to visit on vacation. 64% of lesbian and bisexual women who had visited Montréal’s Gay Village rated the experience positively; only 3% rated it negatively. Also, 73% of women were attracted to Montréal’s Gay Village if it offered lesbian/queer women dedicated parties and events. To attract more women, specifically inviting them the the Village and offering women’s programming, will be important. FINDING & All generations visit LGBT neighborhoods and RECOMMENDATION #4 Millennial interest in the Gay Village is strong. Some destinations trend better with younger or older LGBT travelers. Among USA travelers, Montréal has consistent visitation rates across all three generations. For Canadian LGBT travelers, the research points to better Millennial and Gen X visitation compared to Baby Boomer travelers.