Gay Marriage Approval Poised to Give Big Boost to Canada´s Travel Industry

Now that Canada has passed its controversial same-sex marriage bill, some players in the country´s tourism industry are counting on the legislation to attract more gay and lesbian couples from around the world.

Parliament approved the highly controversial Bill C-38 last Tuesday night, bringing Canada one step away from becoming the third country in the world to officially recognize same-sex unions, after Belgium and the Netherlands.

The bill, drafted by Prime Minister Paul Martin´s Liberal minority government, was passed with a vote of 158 lawmakers for and 133 against in the 308-seat House of Commons. All that remains for the same-sex bill to become law is debate in the Senate, where Liberals vastly outnumber the opposition Conservatives and are expected to pass the bill early next month.

“The passage of C-38 reinforces to the world that Canada is one of the world´s most progressive countries, and an inviting destination for the gay and lesbian traveler,” said Darrell Schurman, co-founder and director of tourism programs with the Canadian Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (CGLCC). “This decision will assist in drawing gay and lesbian couples from around the world to travel to Canada to get married.”

According to the CGLCC, the US lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) travel market is estimated at US$54 billion. Last year, a US travel survey estimated the economic impact of same-sex marriage for Canada´s economy could be $1 billion over the next three years. But the CGLCC believes this is a low estimate; they say an investment of just over a million dollars could garner a billion dollar return annually for the Canadian economy.

“New investment in the ´Gay Travel Market´ is coming from the Canadian Tourism Commission , and other destinations are joining in. Montreal and Quebec have been investing in this market for years and major centers like Vancouver and Toronto are seeing the opportunities. Other cities and provinces are lagging and may risk missing out on these opportunities,” said Bruce McDonald, another co-founder of the CGLCC.