A few years ago, two Greek men (one from Greece and one from Cyprus), Nikos and Zenios, decided to create a modern-day gay tour website with the motive of helping gay travelers find exceptional inns for their holidays. The concept has now evolved not simply to endorse gay-pleasant motels and hotels but also to assist hoteliers in recognizing gay travelers’ desires, providing a great experience to this niche market.
In his consistent attempt to achieve this goal, Nikos S. Moranis, CEO of Travel through Interest, has written numerous articles about the challenge. One of those is his current piece in Hotelier Academy (the main educational media for hoteliers) about how to Reach more Gay and lesbian Travelers. He has spent countless hours helping hoteliers recognize the real needs of world homosexual travelers.
The idea has constantly been to help hoteliers understand the variety of the target audience without distinguishing them from their different guests.
The mission quickly became a success among hoteliers around the globe. Following its latest remodel by Zenios Zeniou, Travel, using Interest’s co-founder and Creative Director, the platform was converted from a homosexual journey directory to a primary journey website for each visitor searching for more personalized ways to select a hotel.
But what is the tale in the back of this modification, and how did those young specialists penetrate the worldwide hotelier market and speak openly about homosexual journeys, even at conservative locations?
One month before speaking at Network 360, one of the leading LGBTI tour conventions in the world, Nikos S. Morantis and Zenios Zeniou analyze their ‘gay business success story,’ showcasing how the LGBTI community can make a difference with real talent and hard work!
First things first: how did you develop the idea of creating a homosexual travel internet site that could assist hoteliers in talking with LGBTI vacationers?
NM: As Greeks, tourism and resorts are part of our DNA! When I was 25, the homosexual journey altered into a new factor, and everybody changed into suffering to recognize this area of interest marketplace. However, lower back then, most people perceived the LGBTI network as a supply of quick and smooth cash.
Realizing this, we determined to invest in growing a better manner of treating gay tourists that could not simply be based on cash. We decided to create a channel wherein LGBTI tourists could locate useful facts. At the same time, hoteliers should better recognize the gay marketplace’s wishes and improve their offerings—continually specializing in mutual blessings, each for travelers and hoteliers.
In this approach, you had to talk overtly to hoteliers about the LGBTI tour and apprehend our conduct. Were they open to that information, or did you face discrimination and offensive responses?
ZZ: Surprisingly, the popularity of LGBTI people has become much higher than we could ever imagine. Of course, money is a great way to encourage business people to listen to you. However, we usually focus on building an amazing culture for our target market, so we insist on the offerings.
In the first few years, we introduced a unique education path to the resort staff about LGBTI travel before recommending the items to the homosexual target audience. WWe were no longer talking about how to deal with their gay guests well but additionally about the splendor that lies inside diversity and that, as gay vacationers, we don’t require any unique remedy or service!
We have been impressed, particularly with Greek hoteliers, who have been very open to listening to us and satisfied to talk to and teach their personnel.
Did you ever encounter any weird behavior, even when talking about the LGBTI community to the lodge team of workers? Were there any homophobic individuals who were now not open to what you had to say?
ZZ: We have been sincerely impressed with the training process, as people felt truly comfortable. As a result, there have been many instances when someone from the target audience became emotional as they shared some sad memories about their buddies who had been in the closet.
As for the ‘much less open’ topics, we did come across a few controversies in the direction of transgender people. We tried hard to clarify that any sort of discrimination closer to any man or woman is unacceptable. The motel body of workers’ education generally turned into an intense discussion around human tradition, and I am pretty certain that it even helped improve the accommodations’ whole mentality!
Homophobia among hoteliers is an unprecedented element. And sure, we did face a few silly behaviors in multiple instances, but you may rest confident that they got the solution they deserved.
How is Travel with the Aid of Interest helpful for LGBTI tourists?
NM: Think of Travel via Interest as your satisfactory homosexual pal who has been everywhere and is always there to advocate for you regarding your journeys — either you are searching for an inn to stay in or a destination to go to.
We’ve created a unique lodge series with the top gay-friendly resorts for almost every vacation spot, including essential locations like Mykonos, Bangkok, and Lisbon. In the meantime, we are also creating special gay tour publications for primary locations around the arena, informing about their gay-friendly attitude and gay nightlife.
Moreover, gay tourists can find extra homosexual-centered resort collections, like the best homosexual-best lodges in the international or gay-pleasant accommodations for honeymoons. Almost all motels affirm their open mentality through their pics, displaying single guys or even male couples. Each lodge profile is likewise enriched with gay-famous locations nearby, at the same time as our TBI Blog special Gay Section features many captivating homosexual articles about gay nightlife, homosexual beaches, etc.
Which nations have been the hardest to accept the reality that you represented an LGBTI tour mission?
NM: The solution is virtually no longer what you would possibly expect. Greece, Thailand, and Portugal are at the top of the listings with the friendliest motel professionals – they’re surely open to welcoming LGBTI vacationers and providing them with upgraded enjoyment. Staying on the bright and noticeably right facet of things, hoteliers from several conservative destinations, like Bali & Maldives, are open to homosexual vacationers and make an important effort to make sure that their inn grounds are safe for LGBTI vacationers.
And because of this, when we were certain of their welcoming person, we tried to help them connect to homosexual audiences. In any case, it is nevertheless a truth that there are places in which homosexuality isn’t universal. However, that doesn’t imply that homosexual tourists should no longer go to those locations as nicely — of the route, always having in mind the neighborhood state of affairs and mentality.
