Marriage equality in New York officially becomes legal on July 24th, and officials predict same-sex nuptials and related tourism will generate big bucks for the state economy.
New York City is about to roll out a global marketing campaign – NYC I DO — to promote the attractiveness of the city's five boroughs as gay wedding destinations. A list of NYC I DO hotel and wedding packages are already listed on the nycgo.com website.
“The potential spending associated with gay marriage is quite simply immense,” said Ian Johnson, CEO of global LGBT marketing specialist, Out Now.
How immense? In 2007, the New York City comptroller's office studied the potential economic impact of marriage equality on the state and the city. The “Love Counts” report estimated that marriage equality would add $184 million in net spending to the state's economy and $142 million to New York City's economy during the three years following legislative approval.
Let this be a lesson to conservative states that resist same-sex progress: you can either stay behind the times, and in debt, or go with the flow and come out on top of the economy. It's really a no-brainer.
