This year more than ever, IGLTA’s Buyer/Supplier Marketplace is a critical networking tool for suppliers to both establish and strengthen relationships with top buyers within the all-important LGBTQ+ tourism sector. Always a favorite event for attendees of IGLTA’s vibrant Annual Global Convention, the Buyer/Supplier Marketplace is an appointment-only trade show that matches buyers and suppliers of LGBTQ+ travel for quick meetings based on their mutual business interests and requests. Suppliers have marketplace tables, while participating buyers rotate to their pre-scheduled appointments. The last Buyer/Supplier Marketplace at the 2019 IGLTA Convention in New York City generated more than 1,100 appointments with buyers that annually sell more than US$91 million in LGBTQ+ travel. This year’s marketplace in Atlanta will be produced in collaboration with ASTA, the American Society Of Travel Advisors, and sponsored by Visit Spain.
For virtually all types of global travel suppliers—hotels, airlines, CVBs, inbound tour operators and beyond—participating in IGLTA’s Buyer/Supplier Marketplace is one of the most powerful and effective ways to not only forge and build upon business relationships with LGBTQ+ travel buyers, but also to showcase your company’s or destination’s ongoing commitment to diversity, equality and inclusiveness. After the marketplace, savvy suppliers stay on for the entire IGLTA Convention, where they can discover the latest developments and trends within the LGBTQ+ tourism market—and establish further personal bonds with key members from all sides of the LGBTQ+ tourism sector at this, their most important annual gathering.
In this trying travel landscape, strong travel advisor relationships have never been more important than they are right now for global tourism suppliers—and as the world starts traveling again, few segments will be as key to those suppliers as the LGBTQ+ market, which has long been far at the forefront of international tourism trends. In a travel survey conducted by IGLTA at the peak of the pandemic last year, nearly half of respondents said they would not change the types of destinations they choose to visit after the pandemic is over, reflecting an impressively high degree of destination and brand loyalty amid the uncertainty. Moreover, in the 2021 IGLTA follow-up survey, 85% of U.S. LGBTQ+ respondents had a valid passport—nearly double the 42% rate of the general U.S. public.
If it’s not possible for you to attend the entire convention, single-day marketplace registrations are available so that you don’t have to miss this strategic opportunity for business growth.
If you’ve not yet registered for the IGLTA convention, you can register here and also select the marketplace add-on during the registration process. If you’ve already registered for the convention but not yet signed up for the marketplace, please contact us to update your registration at: convention@iglta.org