Akron Jumping on Gay Tourism Bandwagon

The Akron Convention and Visitors Bureau is trodding the now-familiar path toward pitching the city as a gay-friendly travel destination. They are meeting with gay-owned businesses " to see what incentives, promotions and programs it may offer to gay and lesbian travelers."

And by the way, it's a slow news day in the 'Kron when the ABJ off-leads this story.

This is, as I said, a trend. Which means it amounts to little more than keeping up with the Jonesvilles. In other words, other cities are doing it, so we might as well so we don't appear unfriendly and therefore unattractive.

But let's be real here. Akron will almost certainly not become a destination city in any event. We have a smattering of points of interest (the new Art Museum being the newest and arguably most gay-friendly) and events (Soapbox Derby, Inventers HOF Induction, AA Founders day), all of which draw small, discrete crowds. But we don't have mountains or a beach and we aren't a cultural mecca. We'll never be San Francisco or Provincetown or Jackson Hole. I once heard a New Yorker describe some town other than New York as "a nice place to live, but I wouldn't want to visit there." That's us.

What the CVB can do is put together the information needed so that gays who are thinking of stopping by -- to see the Art Museum for example -- aren't deterred by a false impression that we are the sort of intolerant backwater where they would have nothing to do and would not be safe. Which, for that matter, is what the CVB should be doing for any identifiable market segments.