Las Vegas joins the destinations offering same-sex weddings

Outside a wedding chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada, where gay marriage is now legal. Photograph: AlamyAs the tourist board puts it: “Las Vegas just got more fabulous.” Last month, gay marriage was pronounced legal in the wedding capital of the world – making the city the most symbolic of a host of destinations to open up to official same-sex ceremonies.The US, in particular, is on a roll: in the past month alone, same-sex marriage has been legalised in 13 states – including the Pacific paradise of Hawaii. These locations join France, Brazil, New Zealand and the markedly less tropical UK. Now, same-sex couples can start dreaming of exotic ceremonies: beachside in Honolulu, perhaps; a classical reception in Paris, or an Elvis-themed shindig in Vegas.

Nowhere is the buzz felt more than at the gay-owned and operated Vivas Las Vegas wedding chapel, which has already performed 50 same-sex marriages and had over 200 inquiries from around the world since it was legalised in Nevada last month. “It’s so important that same-sex couples have the same rights,” says Brian Mills, general manager at the chapel. “Not only from an economic standpoint, but from a moral and social one as well.”

For Neal Broverman, editor-in-chief of gay travel magazine Out Traveler, this is all part of a “sea change” going on right now with gay wedding destinations: “Ten years ago, people just did commitment ceremonies, but now there’s marriage equality in all these places where we were previously left out of the conversation.”

An Elvis-themed ceremony in Las Vegas. Photograph: John Locher/AP

Of course, for destinations, same-sex marriage presents a lucrative opportunity. New research this week from Out Now Global – which offers LGBT training for tourism staff and has also ranked the top LGBT destinations for 2015 – values the LGBT travel market at $200bn a year. And as Broverman says, legalising same-sex marriage makes a “huge difference” to the way a destination is perceived in general.

“Our readers are very conscious of places that are resistant to LGBT rights,” he says. “LGBT people stay on top of which places are friendly and when they hear somewhere’s opened up, they see it as a place to go.”

John Tanzella, president of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA), says there is a huge amount of hype in the US: “As destinations open up for weddings, people jump on them, and hotels and restaurants fill up. It will settle down, but there’s a very large LGBT community, and they want to support the people who support them.”

Some are cynical about destinations courting the “pink pound” but less interested in LGBT rights, but Tanzella feels the process is ultimately positive: “If anything, it builds bridges and creates a dialogue in the destination about the whole LGBT community.”

And the number of new wedding destinations is set to continue into the new year, when Florida is likely to legalise same-sex marriage.

“That’s a huge destination,” says Broverman. “I think people are really excited about it opening up in Florida, with Key West and Orlando. I know a lot of gay people who love Disney World.”

Out Now Global’s top 10 intended destinations for LGBT Travel in 2015

1 New York
2 Sydney
3 Amsterdam
4 Rio de Janeiro
5 Buenos Aires
6 San Francisco
7 London
8 Paris
9 Melbourne
10 Berlin
For the full rankings visit
outnowconsulting.com
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