Businesses welcome gay festival opportunity

[Shana A]

Businesses welcome gay festival opportunity

Cash registers ringing as pride events light up TO

By David Hatton - Business Edge
Published: 06/27/2008 - Vol. 4, No. 13

http://www.businessedge.ca/article.cfm/newsID/18149.cfm

People arriving in downtown Toronto for this week's gay pride festival - billed as the largest in the world - are being welcomed with a dizzying array of advertisements and product samples as companies try to target gay consumers.

Pride Toronto estimates the market for gay and lesbians as being worth more than $75 billion across the country.

"Our sponsors have realized gay consumers generally have a lot of disposable income and they are extremely loyal to brands that support them," says Fatima Amarshi, executive director of Pride Toronto. "They can be a powerful demographic if you do your marketing properly."