New LGBT+ Visitor Center Opens In Lauderdale
Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County opened the area’s first LGBT+ Visitor Center to showcase attractions of interest to LGBT+ visitors.
The destination has been popular with the LGBT+ community for decades, welcoming 1.5 million LGBT+ visitors who spend $1.5 billion annually. The Visitor Center is a result of a partnership between the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Greater Fort Lauderdale LGBT Chamber of Commerce.
The new center will be co-located with the Greater Fort Lauderdale LGBT Chamber of Commerce in the heart of Wilton Manors, Broward County’s gay-centric district with the destination’s largest concentration of gay residents and businesses.
Richard Gray, vice-president of LGBT+ for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, said: “We are proud to have a long and positive history of supporting the LGBT+ community. The opening of this Visitor Center marks another important milestone in the uniqueness of our area in recognizing the value and needs of the LGBT+ visitor.”
Keith Blackburn, CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale LGBT Chamber of Commerce, noted that: “The economic impact the LGBT+ community locally cannot be understated, especially by LGBT+ visitors that come here from all over the world year after year. While LGBT+ travellers have many of the same needs as straight travelers, many unique needs exist. This Visitor Center will serve as a place where people can stop in, ask for recommendations and receive information about the community, our member businesses, events and organizations.”
Go to www.sunny.org/lgbt for more.
In the photo
From left to right: Tim Ryan (Broward County Commissioner), Julie Carson, Justin Flippen, Scott Newton, Keith Blackburn (CEO of the GFL LGBT Chamber of Commerce), Stacy Ritter (President & CEO, GFLCVB), Richard Gray (Vice President, LGBT+ Marketing, GFLCVB), Tom Green, Daniel H. Sohn (Council Member of Town of Haverhill), and Tim Lonergan (City of Oakland Park Mayor).
