Orbitz

, a leading online travel company, today announced the launch of a new micro-site for gay and lesbian travelers.
The micro-site features information about gay-destination cities and events on six continents, specially-tailored travel deals and tips and advice for gay and lesbian parents traveling with their families.
Orbitz is the first leading online travel agency to offer permanent content and deals for the gay and lesbian travel community, which spent $1.2 billion online on travel last year.

Orbitz` gay micro-site builds on a marketing partnership announced last month with PlanetOut Partners` Gay.com website. The micro-site will be accessible through the Deals tab on the Orbitz homepage, at orbitz.com/gaytravel
and on the Gay.com
and OutandAbout.com
websites.

“The gay community looks to the Internet when making travel plans - 41 percent of gays and lesbians have booked travel online as compared to 28 percent of other travelers” said Mike Sands, Chief Marketing Officer at Orbitz. “We are pleased to be the first online travel company to provide gay and lesbian travelers with dedicated gay-specific travel information and deals to the destinations they visit most.”

Gay.com will regularly provide its up-to-the-minute destination content to the Orbitz micro-site. Additional travel content will be available through a link from the micro-site to the travel publication QTMagazine.com, one benefit of an Orbitz partnership with G Society.

In celebration of the new micro-site, Orbitz is launching a sweepstakes, “Win-a-Spa Getaway,” where weekly winners will be awarded a trip for two to one of several spa resorts within the United States. Consumers can enter by registering on the micro-site or through banner ads posted throughout Orbitz. Chances of winning are multiplied when consumers email their friends about the promotion. “Win-a-Spa Getaway” runs through July 17.

Gay and lesbian travelers represent a valued, lucrative market for travel and leisure companies. They are seven times more likely than the average consumer to take six or more flights in one year and are twice as likely to spend more than $5,000 on one trip. According to Forrester Research, in 2001, gay and lesbian travelers were responsible for 7 percent of total online leisure travel spending.

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