Latin America’s Largest LGBT Business Forum Gets Underway in Vallarta-Nayarit, Mexico

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Latin America’s Largest LGBT Business Forum Gets Underway in Vallarta Nayarit, Mexico
- Large brands such as Google, American Express, Marriott Hotels, American Airlines involved
- Leading non-government organizations including Out & Equal, Human Rights Campaign present workshops
- US Consul General tells of his experience in coming out in Mexico

JUNE 12, 2014 - Puerto Vallarta-Riviera Nayarit (OUTNOW) - Many of the world’s largest brand names this week are meeting together with non-government organizations, tourism offices, small and medium businesses, entrepreneurs, niche media publishers and a range of industry experts specialised in reaching lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

Google, American Airlines, Marriott Hotels, American Express, Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Bureau and Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau are among the many leading organizations attending Latin America’s most important business event focused on LGBT people - the 4th International LGBT Business Expo, presented by LGBT Confex http://www.LGBTconfex.com who are Latin America’s leading specialist producer of LGBT business events.

According to new data released this week by Out Now, Premier Sponsor of the Expo, from the world’s largest LGBT research program - LGBT2020 http://www.outnowconsulting.com/LGBT2020 - there are now 5.2 million LGBT people living in Mexico and during the past twelve months they earned a total of USD$74.4billion pre-tax income.

In opening remarks made to the conference, US Consul General Joseph M Pomper described a sea-change in LGBT visibility that has occurred over the past thirty years. Pomper - who is openly gay - spoke of previously having to keep his personal life a secret and mentioned having lost a diplomatic posting years ago as he had been spotted leaving a gay bar.  

“Back then gay people like me used to have to whisper at work about what our outside-work lives were like,” Pomper said during his presentation. “Now, I have a microphone.”

New to the event this year is Google Mexico who are presenting a technology workshop. Pablo Slough, CEO of Google Mexico explained that becoming involved makes a lot of sense to the company.

“Google is always all about people and the beauty of this LGBT Confex event is that it actively connects people and businesses in ways that discover and develop beneficial ways to interact,” Pablo Slough said. “Google is really pleased to be involved with this forum and we look forward to meeting everyone this June in Mexico.”

Ruben Sandoval, CEO of LGBT Confex explained the growth his event is experiencing is part of a larger global trend to include LGBT people.

“We started our event in 2011 in Puerto Vallarta and now three years later we are back and the landscape today is almost unrecognisable from then,” Sandoval says. “We are seeing growth which reflects both the work of our great team here at LGBT Confex as well as something bigger. Society at large is learning that LGBT people are equal and valued members of communities, as customers, as workers and as citizens. We are excited to be presenting the world’s best LGBT specialists in our education workshops this week and allowing all of our delegates, sponsors and exhibitors to connect with each other - and to join with us as we each play our part in the ongoing integration of LGBT people throughout society. This is a quite special time and this is going to be a powerful event as a result.”

The 4th International LGBT Business Expo is a production of LGBT Confex and will be held in Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit from June 12 - 14, 2014. For more details visit  www.LGBTbusinessExpo.com


MEDIA CONTACTS
Spanish: andres@LGBTconfex.com
English: info@outnowconsulting.com

ABOUT LGBT CONFEX
Latin America’s leading LGBT conferences and exhibitions company is LGBT Confex www.lgbtconfex.com . Established in 2011, the organization has demonstrated its strong capabilities to put together a professional team, with staff who bring many years in event management expertise. Following the success of their inaugural event in 2011, LGBT Confex has held successful annual business events in Cancun (2012) and in Guadalajara, Mexico in 2013. During 2014 LGBT Confex will present two LGBT conference and exhibition events.
The 4th International LGBT Business Expo in Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit, Mexico takes place from June 12 - 14 and a second LGBT Business Expo, focused on South American markets, will take place October 2 - 4 in Bogota, Colombia. The events feature world-leading presenters and focus on a number of key platforms - including technology, travel, media, education, entrepreneur and diversity. For more information visit www.LGBTconfex.com and www.LGBTbusinessExpo.com .

ABOUT OUT NOW
Out Now Global http://www.outnowconsulting.com is the world’s leading LGBT consulting specialist. The firm manages the largest global LGBT market research initiative – LGBT2020 http://www.outnowconsulting.com/LGBT2020 - which has measured almost 100,000 LGBT research respondents since 2010. Out Now manages the largest business-to-business networking trade association for the development of global LGBT tourism – with ONBC Out Now Business Class http://www.OutNowBusinessClass.com now having almost 1,000 industry decision-makers plus over 1,400 individual hotel members. ONBC members who train using ONBC staff training become certified into the OutNow.travel http://www.OutNow.travel LGBT consumer tourism information website. Formed in 1992, Out Now has grown to become the world’s most experienced specialist in LGBT market development. Clients include IBM, Toyota, Volvo, Lufthansa, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Qantas, Hilton Hotels, Marriott Hotels, Merck, Citibank, Barclaycard, Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays bank. Out Now services include training, research, strategy, communications and networking.

More information? Contact info@outnowconsulting.com

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Contact Information

Darren Cooper

Senior Consultant

Out Now

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