ORLANDO, Fla. – It's an event that could bring an estimated 200,000 gays and lesbians to Central Florida.
Converge Orlando, Inc., the official LGBT Convention & Visitors Bureau for Central Florida, announced Wednesday that it will attempt to bring the 2018 Gay Games to Orlando.
"At the end of the day, it's all about the marketing campaign, and we are going to make it happen," said Mikael Audobert, of Converge Orlando.
The City Beautiful will have to fight with more than a dozen other cities, such as London, Las Vegas and Brazil. The destination for Gay Games won't be announced until 2014.
The Gay Games are just part of the plan to market Orlando to the LGBT community.
Converge Orlando unveiled the first-ever targeted marketing campaign to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender market, which last year accounted for billions of dollars in economic impact for Central Florida.
"They tend to be more recession proof, continuing to travel when other groups curtail," said Paul Queen, of Converge Orlando.
The campaign will target Atlanta, New York City, Chicago, Washington and Toronto.
Queen said gay and lesbian tourists spend about $63 billion nationwide on vacations.
"Orlando is one of the top tourist destinations in the world and in the top 10 in the U.S. for LGBT travelers," said Audebert.
Orlando sees about $3 billion of that, as it was named the second most "gay-friendly city," hosting popular LGBT events like Walt Disney World's "Gay Days."
City commissioner Patty Sheehan and CEO of Visit Orlando Gary Sain were also in attendance.
"You know, gay dollars are green, too," Sheehan said.
LGBT businesses said they are excited about the new marketing campaign. Business at nightclubs such as Pulse have been on the rise in recent years, causing them to expand their hours and hire more staff to keep with customer demands.