When rings have been exchanged, tearful “I dos” have been uttered and empty champagne bottles are all that remain after a wedding reception, newlyweds embark on their honeymoon.
And now, it seems, hotels and lodges around South Africa are opening their doors to newlyweds who are both in tuxedos or white dresses — gay honeymooners.
South Africa will soon become one in only five countries in the world to legalise same-sex marriage, after Parliament gave the nod to the Civil Union Bill in November this year.
Considering that South Africa may become a popular destination for same-sex couples to visit and get married, hotels are looking to tap into pink money — the gay currency referring to an income without dependents.
Although the international gay travel market accounts for more than 70-million arrivals worldwide, South Africa receives only 1% of international gay travellers, according to the South African Gay and Lesbian Travel Alliance (Saglta).
However, South Africa is growing in popularity as a holiday destination. About 7,4-million people — most of them from other African countries — visited South Africa last year, up on the previous year’s figure of 6,7-million, says Statistics South Africa.
When gay marriage was legalised in the United Kingdom last year, a report was released by the Gay Times and Diva magazine (Europe’s two leading magazines for gays and lesbians) indicating that there would be a boom in gay honeymoon travel in the UK after about 274Â 000 gay and lesbian couples stated their intension to get married.
But are South African hotels ready to deal with Mr and Mr, or Mrs and Mrs, after the rice has been thrown?
Some local hotels are getting their staff trained by gay marketing strategists bent on teaching concierges and receptionists to fight the urge to ask, “Will your husband or wife be joining you?” and instead using the more general “spouse” or “partner”.
No assumptions
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, which manages 68 lodges catering for eco-tourists heading to KwaZulu-Natal, hired Vivienne Quann of Hot Salsa Media, a marketing company that specialises in the gay market, to transform its hotels internally and teach staff how to deal with gay customers correctly.
Quann, who trained Ezemvelo’s more than 60 staff members using role play, says: “It is important to acknowledge that as gay people we do not want to be treated any differently than anyone else. In the hospitality sector this means [as a starting point] all assumptions must be removed.”
Other hotels are already searching for non-denominational ministers to perform marriage ceremonies and plan to offer marriage packages for same-sex couples.
One such lodge is Umbhaba Lodge in Hazyview, Mpumalanga. Dave Foxon, CEO of the lodge, says Umbhaba has already received bookings from same-sex couples 10 months in advance to be wed in the lodge’s chapel and garden. “People who don’t look at [the gay market] have blinkers on; some people are worried about their patrons but I definitely think it’s the way forward,” he says.
And if same-sex couples are still not satisfied, they can always go to gay-only, gay-owned hotels.
Amsterdam — a guest lodge in Oranjezicht, Cape Town, for gay men only — offers honeymoon champagne and cheese platters in its suites.
Dutch owner Michiel Spaapen says the lodge will do anything a guest requests. “We have a big dining area which could be used for weddings and a large outside area for parties or ceremonies. There’s lots we can do here. Nothing is too big,” he says.
French tourist Christophe Lemarchand (29), a guest staying at Amsterdam, says when the time comes he will get married in Paris but definitely honeymoon in Cape Town. Staying at a gay lodge like Amsterdam, which allows men to sunbathe and walk around in the nude, makes him feel free. “I can be naked. I can be with my boyfriend and do whatever I want.”
Online
According to a research report titled the Gay and Lesbian Tourism Profile 2006, compiled by San Francisco-based market researchers Community Marketing, most gay travellers use the internet when researching and booking accommodation. Ninety-two percent book flights via the internet.
The report also found that about three-quarters of the gay population are more likely to choose a travel destination that is known to be gay-friendly.
Johannesburg resident Riaan Wolmarans (32) says he and his partner always do extensive online research on the best accommodation options, locally and abroad, and they have almost always been able to find gay or gay-friendly options.
“I think many establishments have realised the value of the pink rand: gay people often have disposable income due to being in childless households with no children. Though cities such as Amsterdam and New York offer many gay or gay-friendly listings, South Africa is quickly catching up. Establishments need not even be overtly ‘gay’ — a simple ‘gay-friendly’ somewhere on a website is enough to interest the gay market,” says Wolmarans.
But whether the wedding venue is gay-friendly or not, some same-sex couples simply want a romantic atmosphere for their ceremony.
Johannesburg-based designer Isaac Kosmides (25) plans to marry his partner in a restaurant on the beach in Paternoster, a small coastal town in the Western Cape. Although not a particularly gay-oriented town, Kosmides says “it’s quiet and sleepy and one of the most beautiful places in the world”.
When travelling with his partner, Kosmides says staying at gay resorts and hotels is very important to them.
“We just want to be ourselves and to be together. We work our arses off during the year and at the end of the year, it’s us time. It’s also nice to meet people who are like-minded in a certain capacity. You can tell each other where to eat, where to go out. There is a certain camaraderie in that.”
Gay-friendly
What does gay-friendly mean? Quann uses scenarios to explain how hotels sometimes stumble in their treatment of gays and lesbians.
Scenario one: “You arrive at the hotel and they see two men or two women at reception. More often than not, it is automatically assumed you require a twin room or two single rooms. So now you are left feeling uncomfortable when requesting a double room, at which point you are given double takes or, as I have had more times than not, the ‘Oh um, oh um, let us see what we can do’ scenario.
“Of course there are always other guests either booking in or booking out or other people around whilst you squirm your way around this hiccup.”
Scenario two: “You are given twin rooms and every night you put [your beds] together to make a double bed. Every evening you return to your room after housekeeping and the beds have been changed back to two singles again.”
Quann says gay people arrive at hotels “behind [their] masks as a form of protection”.
“We don’t want the looks and sniggers and bad service because of who we are. If we hold hands and someone complains … what we don’t want is that the gay couple are asked to leave, which happens more often than not. Imagine if gay people complained every time straight couples kissed or held hands while in public.
“You may think that these, experienced separately, are not real problems, but if you add these with the fact that you cannot show affection or be open and out for the rest of the holiday, believe me, it all counts,” she says.
Brendan Cunningham, CEO of the Gay and Lesbian Travel Alliance, says gay people should not be treated differently to anyone else.
“I think it would be insult if a gay person was treated differently. We don’t expect different service; we just want to be made to feel welcome,” he said.