California Gears Up for Gay Wedding Boom

June 11, 2008— -- Across California, hotels, event planners and tourism professionals are rolling out the red carpet for gay couples, hoping to lure lucrative new business from their wedding celebrations, once the state begins issuing same-sex marriage licenses on June 17.

"They're saying 'the gays are going to save our business,'" said Cindy Sproul, co-owner of the Rainbow Wedding Network, about her wedding vendor clients. Since the May 15 ruling, which cleared the way for legalizing gay marriage in California this month, Sproul says visitors to her site, which specializes in gay weddings, have doubled, and so have the amount of advertisers.

While most Americans are cutting back on travel in a souring economy, the anticipated boom is a hotly sought-after growth sector for the travel industry.

"Spending by resident same-sex couples on their weddings, and by out-of-state couples on tourism and their weddings, will boost California's economy by over $683.6 million in direct spending," over the next three years, according to a new study from the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at UCLA School of Law, based on the experience of Massachusetts and Vermont, after they extended marriage or civil unions to same-sex couples.

"Vermont was the first destination that allowed civil unions and -- 'boom' -- right away, there was a demonstrable increase, a big uptick, in travel to Vermont, by couples going there to have a civil union. ... You'll see the same thing with California. ... It's kind of a no-brainer," said Ed Salvato, editor in chief of The Out Traveler.

The study estimates that more than approximately 67,000 gay couples will flock from out-of-state to get hitched in California, bringing with them more than $200 million in tourism and hospitality revenue.

Unlike in Massachusetts, where out-of-state residents cannot officially wed, California law welcomes visitors who want to get married in the state.

"We're expecting to see the most from New York and New Mexico, because both those states have very strong language saying they will recognize marriages from other states," explained Brad Sears, executive director the Williams Institute.