Chris Brimble is flying into Denver from San Diego with seven friends to partake in this weekend’s PrideFest festivities.
“A bunch of friends are coming in from San Francisco as well,” said Brimble, an executive recruiter who used to live in Denver.
Corporate sponsors are also attracted to the 31st annual celebration of gay and lesbian rights. Coors Brewing Co., Frontier Airlines, Comcast, Stoli, Sprint and Wells Fargo are among the 21 sponsors. Eight new companies came on board this year, including Bally Total Fitness and Starbucks.
The event runs Saturday and Sunday. At least 52,000 out-of-towners are expected as part of 180,000 participants at Denver’s Civic Center, according to Debra Pollock, spokeswoman for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center of Colorado, which organizes the event.
Last year, 8 percent of the attendees came from outside Colorado, and 21 percent came from outside Denver. This year, the center began advertising the event nationally.
“We’ve really done some proactive marketing outside of Colorado to promote tourism,” Pollock said.
The Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau is sponsoring PrideFest for the first time, viewing it as an opportunity to attract more GLBT travelers year-round.
Denver’s Hotel Teatro, one of the event’s two hotel sponsors, sold 21 PrideFest packages that ranged in price from $250 to $330 and included two welcome martinis. The hotel is sold out for tonight.
“It’s a great market segment for us,” said general manager Coni Thornburg. “They’re very discerning travelers, so they appreciate our luxury product. And they spend a lot of money.”
Other local businesses also expect a busy weekend. J.R.’s Bar & Grill on 17th Street said it sees a 50 percent increase in sales during PrideFest.
“It’s great for business,” said owner Larry McDonald.
Denver-based Mike Shaw Automotive will showcase several vehicles at Civic Center this weekend, including a Subaru Tri beca, a 9-3 Saab convertible and a Chevrolet Corvette.
“We have a lot of gay customers,” said Jay Juiliano of Mike Shaw. “Subarus and Saabs sell very well with the gay market, and everybody likes Corvettes.”
The gay and lesbian community represents at least $65 billion of the $1.3 trillion U.S. travel and tourism market, according to the Travel Industry Association of America.
“We have the potential to draw more gay and lesbian travelers to Denver. We just need to market ourselves better,” said Jayne Buck, vice president of tourism for the bureau.
Discounted Pridefest hotel packages were posted on its website, denver.org.
Staff writer Julie Dunn can be reached at 303-820-1592 or jdunn@denverpost.com.
