Staten Island travel agency launches LGBT division
by Tevah Platt / Staten Island Advance
Thursday October 02, 2008, 12:36 PM
Eric Aversa and Annette Silvestro have started up a new division at Majors Travel in West Brighton, that caters to gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and trans-gendered (LGBT) customers. It's called Passages.
When they started out in the tourism industry, travel agents Eric Aversa and Annette Silvestro would never have booked a "gay day" at Walt Disney World.
Back in the 1980s, airlines, travel agencies, cruise ships and tourist destinations rarely courted gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and trans-gendered (LGBT) customers, so arrangements for gay-friendly hotels and LGBT group get-aways were typically made discretely, off the books or not at all.
This year, Aversa and Silvestro have opened what they believe to be Staten Island's first travel agency designed for LGBT.
Passages, the rainbow flag-waving division of Majors Travel at 1192 Forest Ave., has just launched its Web site, pridepassages.com, and is offering its first packages: A Thanksgiving weekend at the Rainbow Mountain Resort in the Poconos, New Year's in Paris, Disney Gay Days in June.
The business partners are pioneering on Staten Island, but they're building on a decade of spectacular growth for the niche industry worldwide.
The shift began in the mid-1990s, when, as the New York Times then reported, the big companies began "seeing dollar signs instead of stigma."
Then, as now, big business took notice of the sheer size of the market and the fact that the LGBT sector had more time and money to spend than their "mainstream" counterparts.
The International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA), of which Passages is a member, reports that the LGBT community in the United States has an annual estimated spending power of more than $610 billion and will continue to travel the world despite the economic crisis.
"A much greater control over its free time, an above average spending power and an innate curiosity to know other destinations seems to continue to fuel the engine of this ever growing industry," the IGLTA reported this summer.
"Our timing is right on the money," said Aversa, who is poised to take advantage of LGBT travel packages recently made available to retailers.
While they are looking to hire a concierge for their offices, Aversa and Silvestro expect most of their business will be conducted online. Just this week, they began pitching their "va-gay-tions" through Google banner ads. They will also spread the word by advertising in regional gay publications and word of mouth, through the LGBT Center in St. George.
About 1 in 7 Americans openly identifies as lesbian, gay, bi-sexual or trans-gendered. By that measure, Staten Island is likely home to more than 65,000 LGBT residents.
Tevah Platt is a news reporter for the Advance. She may be reached at platt@siadvance.com.
Eric Aversa & Annette Silvestro, the founders of Passages are no new comers to the Travel Industry. Aversa, a Travel & Tourism graduate & industry veteran (25 years), he is the former President of the once most recognized Tour Companies Friendly Holidays & Great Vacations. He has not only served on several prestigious boards (including The American Society of Travel Agents) on both a national and local level but has been honored and awarded "Top Young Executive" by Travel Agent Magazine for 4 consecutive years. Silvestro a graduate of Kean College and owner of a high volume producing agency for nearly 25 years has been recognized by Cruise Lines and Major Resorts worldwide and today continues to enjoy her highly successful Agency.
Aversa & Silvestro met as Silvestro was one of Aversa's highest producing agencies in the country. Periodically the two would meet
to brainstorm on how they could pull their resources to form an even greater company then what they both already had. Years later Aversa announced that he was gay! The two again would meet to form PASSAGES.
"We don't just put several events a year together" said Silvestro "we are able to offer true gay & lesbian friendly vacation packages
from anywhere in the U.S. to almost anywhere in the world!" Aversa added that due to their years in the business,extensive list of contacts,
and technological knowhow "we have been able to pull the right resources to offer contracted air rates and Hotels & Resorts that are specific to the gay market and package it all into a system on our website that enables GLBTers to go on line, choose, book and pay in one felt swoop!" "You
can view hotel descriptions too!" added Silvestro.
Passages is a retail travel company that only utilizes tour companies who are financially secure and maintain their status with the United States Tour Operators
Association (A 1 Million Dollar Consumer Protection Plan).
