Tourism booms with gay marriage in Mexico's seaside

Описание: (18 Jun 2016) LEAD IN:
Gay marriage is creating a boom in tourism in Mexico as honeymooners arrive to celebrate their nuptials and their honeymoon.
It's a lucrative market, but not everyone is happy.

STORY-LINE:
Puerto Vallarta is located on Mexico's Pacific coast.
Wedged between sandy beaches and jungle-covered mountains, the city has long been a popular destination for domestic and foreign tourists.
Hollywood celebrities from the 1960s are credited with putting the city on the global tourism map.
Since then it has become a hub for straight and gay travellers around the world.
Over four million tourists arrive in Puerto Vallarta every year, injecting nearly $800 million into the local economy, according to the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board.
Gay tourism makes up 15 percent of the market and that's expected to grow because Mexico's Supreme Court overturned a Jalisco state law that prevented gay couples from marrying earlier this year.
Tourism authorities and businesses are optimistic that more homosexual couples from Mexico and abroad will choose to get married here now that same-sex marriage has been legalised.
In January 2016 Mexico's Supreme Court has struck down language in a Jalisco state law that defines marriage as between a man and woman.
The decision means Jalisco becomes the fourth jurisdiction nationwide where gay couples can automatically get married, joining Coahuila and Quintana Roo states along with Mexico City.
Weddings have already been held here and more are being planned.
John and Rodney Williams recently exchanged vows in the US state of Oklahoma.
The legalisation of same-sex marriage in Puerto Vallarta influenced their decision to honeymoon here.
"It just shows you exactly how gay friendly you know Puerto Vallarta and Jalisco is becoming. And so I think when you look for those signs and you see them I think it kind of reaffirms what you're thinking that you're going to a place that's going to welcome you," says Rodney Williams.
Local businesses are keen to make money from Puerto Vallarta's emerging same-sex marriage market.
To help businesses improve their service to LGBT customers, a local commerce and tourism association is drafting a gay friendly certification programme which businesses will be able to use to attract more gay clientele.
Don Pickens is the owner of Casa Cupula, a luxury boutique hotel overlooking Puerto Vallarta.
The US Supreme Court legalised same-sex marriage in 2015, a decision that has been his occupancy rate and a growing number of gay newlyweds spend their honeymoon at his hotel.
Pickens expects the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Jalisco will encourage more couples to plan to hold their nuptials as well as their honeymoons in Puerto Vallarta.
In anticipation of growing demand Pickens has invested tens of thousands of dollars refurbishing Casa Cupula to host weddings.
"Where I think it makes a huge difference is first of all in being a symbol of the acceptance of the gay community and gay marriage in Jalisco and in Mexico and in Puerto Vallarta and that is gigantic. And so I think that the fact that you can is as important as whether you actually will take your marriage licence in Puerto Vallarta," Pickens says.
It's only in recent years that local tourism officials have actively targeted the LGBT community in their marketing campaigns.
The Puerto Vallarta Board has also partnered with LGBT activist groups to strengthen the beach city's gay credentials.
The area's profile in the LGBT community has been enhanced by an annual gay pride festival that culminates in a colourful street parade.


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