1. Jussi Mäki
Pink money in the tourism
sector

2. Gay-Friendliness & Pink money
 Gay-friendliness = open and welcoming to all
people regardless of their sexual orientation.
 The majority of gay people would choose
gay-friendly product or service over another
even though the price were higher.
 Pink money describes the purchasing power
of the gay community.

3. Gay population & tourism
 The estimated number of gay people is
around 10% of the whole population.
 Gay male couples spend more money on
themselves than their heterosexual
counterparts.
 Higher disposable income and only less than
5 % of them have children to take care of.

4.  The biggest influences
of pink money can be
seen in the tourism
sector.
 In addition to gay-
friendly companies,
there are also many
businesses which
specifically cater for
gay customers.

5.  Gay people want to travel to places which
allow them to feel comfortable to express
their own sexual identities.
 Typical holiday type is a city break and
because of that certain cities have became
very popular destinations among the gay
community.
 Despite the benefits that businesses gain
from the gay and lesbian tourism,
companies from tourism sector haven't
put much effort to attract this unique

6. Cultural aspects
 Pink money phenomenon can be seen in
many parts of the Western World.
 Attitudes towards homosexuality vary greatly
in different cultures.
 Homosexuality is illegal in 80 countries
around the world.
 Religions have also a huge influence.
 The world has changed to more and more

8. In Finland
 The Finnish society is very approval towards
gay community.
 Pink money is still quite foreign term.
 In 2009 started Gay-friendly Helsinki
campaign.
 Finnish travel agents and hotels look still
askance at pink money.
 Finnmatkat might pay more attention to gay

9.  The majority of Finnish travel agents didn’t
see it necessary to inform about their
tolerance.
 Gay travelers don’t necessarily know that it is
safe and open atmosphere in Finland unless
they can read it from somewhere.
 On the other hand, those gay travelers who
are used to gay-friendliness, would probably
choose gay-friendly services in Finland too.
 Companies could stand out and attract
customers from this segment just with a little
effort.

10. Does everything need to be pink?
 Nowadays there are many services for gay
customers.
 If we are aiming for complete equality, do we
really need these separated services?
 Every person in the world has a need to feel
accepted.
 Gay-friendliness is more like a matter of
principle.

11.  However, sexual orientation is always a
personal matter and because of that there are
many different opinions.
 Some gays want to assimilate into the rest of
the population while others want to step up.