With the historic Supreme Court ruling of June 26, it became much easier for travel agents who specialize in destination weddings to handle requests by same-sex couples.
Put simply, any U.S. resident will now be considered legally married everywhere within the country as long as the ceremony was legal in the destination where it was performed, said John Hawks of the two-year-old Destination Weddings and Honeymoons Specialist Association.
For agents looking to boost their destination wedding business, same-sex marriages are expected to boom, particularly among the millennial generation, Lisa Sheldon, the association's executive director, said during a webinar following the Supreme Court's ruling.
“If you have no issue for moral or religious reasons, it's a great opportunity," Sheldon said. "Millennials are 52% more likely to be 'out’ [than older generations]. One in four LGBT couples are millennials, and they will be our clients for a long time. If you do their weddings when they are in their mid-20s, you will build that relationship and have them as clients for life.”
Sheldon outlined steps agents can take to market to same-sex couples: Remove terms such as bride and groom from marketing materials and change to gender neutral words such as “couples”; find an LGBT charity in your area to partner with; create an antidiscrimination policy for your agency that covers sexual orientation; identify LGBT wedding professionals in your area for referrals; and make sure photos you use in marketing include same-sex couples or brides alone or grooms alone.
Hawks said there might be agents who, for religious or personal reasons, do not want to pursue the LGBT market, but he warned, “Refusing service could result in you being sued and, if you are in that situation [not wanting to specialize in the niche], the best advice we can give you is to consult a local attorney. There are fairness ordinances in some cities that prohibit discrimination against LGBTs in employment, housing or public accommodation and we [travel agents] fall into that latter category. Beware and find out about fairness ordinances.”
Hawks recommended that agents who prefer not handle same-sex couples find another agent who specializes in the LGBT market and strike up a client-sharing arrangement. “What heads off a legal confrontation is being respectful and simply saying 'I would love to refer you to a colleague who specializes in your market' without getting into your background and reasons why. Ninety-nine percent of the time this will protect you."
Sheldon said agents who decide to specialize in LGBT weddings would find it a lucrative niche. “One in 10 engaged couples are LGBT, and this will probably go up,” she said.
Handing same-sex destination weddings will be a topic at upcoming Destination Weddings and Honeymoons Specialist education programs. For more information, see www.dwagents.com.