28/04/2024
20 YEARS OF KZN GAY & LE***AN TOURISM ASSOCIATION
A niche market no more, LGBTQ+ (le***an, gay, bisexual, transgender, q***r & others), or pink travel, has within the past two decades evolved from a curiosity for mainstream tourism practitioners into a multi-billion dollar market segment, identified as between 6-8% of the economically active population.
From the early days of gay and le***an travel promotion, the need for comprehensive policies that spoke to this now important market demographic began to coalesce into the first provincial Pink Tourism Strategy that was proudly developed by James Seymour at Tourism KZN in 2003. Following on engagements with the local community and tourism practitioners, the idea of a permanent body to represent the interests of LGBTQ+ travel distilled into the formal founding of the KwaZulu-Natal Gay & Le***an Tourism Association on 23 January 2024.
In 2024 the organisation now celebrates 20 years of promoting KZN as a welcoming and inclusive destination for LGBTQ+ travellers.
“Slapping on a rainbow flag, or pinkwashing, is insufficient to have a proper impact for products and destinations seeking to attract LGBT leisure and business travellers” says Jason Fiddler, founding Chairperson for the non-profit business association, KZNGALTA. “We were founded in 2004 to help guide the Tourism KZN pink strategy, and over the past 20 years, as the oldest, and to the best of our knowledge, only African LGBTQ+ community tourism organisation, we find ourselves continually educating the travel trade and businesses of both the value and import of speaking appropriately to, and genuinely welcoming our fabulous community onboard their transport, into their accommodation and as visitors to their attractions.”
The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has produced two reports on this segment so far. In the 2nd Global LGBT Travel Report in 2017, Taleb Rifai, UNWTO Secretary-General states that “LGBTQ+ tourism has experienced a significant increase in recent years. Gradually, this dynamic segment has proven its capacity to become a powerful vehicle for economic development. Yet the positive impacts of (pink) tourism reach far beyond mere economic benefits. Indeed, destinations welcoming LGBTQ+ tourism convey a powerful image of tolerance and respect.”
Expansion of tourism marketing efforts that speak honestly and encouragingly to LGBTQ+ travellers has been proven to result in increased tourism spend for those destinations and products that have made sincere commitments towards this market.
The report provides further insight: “While data is continually sought to explain these trends, LGBTQ+ travellers have become recognised as a segment that travels with greater frequency and demonstrates higher than-average patterns of spending. Social change and improvements in the legal recognition and protection of LGBTQIA+ people around the world have meant that (these) consumers have gradually become more visible and with this, more easily targeted as a consumer segment.”
Greater visibility is translating into quantifiable figures. Pre-Pandemic, in 2016 Community Marketing Inc valued global LGBT tourism spend at US$211-billion per annum, an increase of about 27% over the previous five years. Clearly the buying power of a largely untapped marketplace has yet to reach its full potential. For South Africa, this can translate into at least tens of thousands of additional tourists each year, with the economic impact exceeding hundreds of millions of Rands.
KZNGALTA therefore continues to make it’s humble presence heard and felt, at travel trade shows like World Travel Market Africa, where it has been a premium association partner of the show since 2017, and at Tourism Indaba, Africa’s Travel Show, where multiple engagements have taken place over the past decade and since the official launch of the first provincial Pink Tourism Guide in May 2004.
KZNGALTA has been a member of the International Gay & Le***an Travel Association (IGLTA) since 2016 and has used its position as a passionate community voice to participate in many LGBTQ+ travel trade talks and symposiums. Most recently, and through the Covid-19 pandemic, has actively participated in Equal Africa and online in multiple webinars.
Though small in size, with a passionate group of volunteer participants in the Board and in the organisation, KZNGALTA continues to enjoy the vibrant engagement of KwaZulu-Natal’s LGBTQ+ community, where long standing relationships with the likes of the Durban Le***an & Gay Community & Health Centre (who have always had a seat on the KZNGALTA board), the Durban Gay & Le***an Film Festival, various community groups and clubs have led to its ongoing relevance in representing the broader community, bridging divides between LGBTQ+ and mainstream businesses and interests.
Former deputy chairperson of KZNGALTA, Nonhlanhla Mkhize, herself a stalwart of the struggle for our community rights, and long-standing executive director of the Durban Centre, has this to say: “It is crazy to realise just how much we as NPOs on the ground have achieved from our partnerships with establishments and individual agents within the tourism industry to bring about positive change, diversity and inclusion to not just the niche market that LGBTIQ+ but all other groups irrespective of identity. Inclusive and considerate service packages, safer and respectful language use, environments and staff, a rise in income (direct and indirectly), are some of our achievements over the past 20 years. All this with no financial support from the Municipality or the Department of Tourism, and Economic Development. Imagine how much more we could have done or could have been our reach and impact if we were supported financially and technically?”
The current deputy chair of KZNGALTA, Tshukudu ‘Rhino’ Moepadira from Neostar Car Rental, himself a business member of the association, says as an ally of the LGBTQ+ community that: “We are proud to celebrate 20 years of KZNGALTA, a landmark achievement in advancing LGBTQ+ rights and inclusivity in South Africa. Over the past two decades, KZNGALTA has played a pivotal role in creating a supportive and empowering environment for LGBTQ+ businesses and individuals in KwaZulu-Natal. As we reflect on our journey, we are reminded of the progress we have made, the challenges we have overcome, and the unity we have fostered within the LGBTQ+ community. Together, we will continue to champion equality, diversity, and economic empowerment for all.”
Having sat on the KZNGALTA board from founding in 2004, to date, for 20 years, and having served 16 of those years as chair, outgoing chairperson Jason Fiddler feels that “it has been so important that we, as KZNGALTA, exist and continue to exist, on a continent generally hostile to LGBTQ+ communities and yet through its tourism industries, is so very welcoming to visitors. Tourism is the great changer of mindsets, and I believe that we will bring about positive change on the continent in time.”
“It has been truly one of the greatest honours for my peers to continually call upon me to stand for leadership, to be prepared to genuinely sacrifice time, effort and energy, towards the sustainability and growth of KZNGALTA and the pink tourism section as a whole. I don’t know if my own efforts have translated to that much, but having been given this remarkable opportunity to serve, I can only think that some serious impact has been made in our industry, among people who are far better appreciative of LGBTQ+ travellers now than when, at my first Tourism Indaba in 1998, having a brochure referring to gay and le***an tourism was a major taboo!”
The KwaZulu-Natal Gay & Le***an Tourism Association has recently launched a re-vamped version of it’s website www.kzngalta.org.za and apart from listing our business members, is a great and ongoing repository of travel info for LGBTQ+ visitors to this magnificent province, so rich in culture, history and breathtaking natural splendour.
