NEW PARTNERSHIPS TO BOOST PINK LOERIE MR GAY WORLD BID

The Pink Loerie Mardi Gras & Arts Festival has announced a number of new partnerships that will ensure that next year’s event in Knysna will be bigger and better than ever, say the event’s organisers.

It was confirmed today that Globeflight couriers has again secured the naming rights for the 2015 festival and that Mr Gay South Africa (MRGSA) has joined lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) insurance company TRIARC as an official partner.

The event is now named: Globeflight Pink Loerie Mardi Gras & Arts Festival Knysna 2015 in association with TRIARC & MRGSA.

“Globeflight is proud to have been the logistics partner and sponsor of the Pink Loerie Mardi Gras & Arts Festival Knysna for the past four years and the main sponsor for the past two years,” said Jo-Ann Grace, Globeflight Marketing Director.

“At Globeflight we understand and deliver on logistics around events. With a 6000 strong client database spanning across corporate SA, some of these clients include individuals or companies from the LGBTI community, hence Globeflight’s continued support,” she explained.

Thinus van der Walt, the new owner of Mr Gay South Africa (Pty) Ltd, also expressed his excitement at joining the Pink Loerie family and revealed that this is part of his vision to grow the MRGSA brand.

He said that “partnering with Globeflight Pink Loerie Mardi Gras & Arts Festival Knysna in association with TRIARC will prove that the LGBTI community can work together to achieve great things.”

In addition, WESGRO – Cape Town and the Western Cape’s official Tourism, Trade and Investment Promotion Agency – has also signed a partnership agreement with the festival that will further boost the Pink Loerie’s bid to host the Mr Gay World™ contest next year in Knysna and Cape Town.

The organising committee will travel to Rome later this month to present their bid at Mr Gay World™ 2014. South Africa previously successfully hosted the international event in 2012 in Johannesburg.

“With our natural scenic beauty, friendly people and mild Mediterranean climate, Cape Town and the Western Cape are perfectly suited to host an event of this stature,” said Judy Lain, Chief Marketing Officer at WESGRO.

“The LGBT market accounts for around 10% of international arrivals globally. Hosting the Mr Gay World event in Knysna during April and May, will be a positive for our province as this period is usually regarded as the ‘low season’ in terms of tourist numbers,” added Lain.

Globeflight’s Jo-Ann Grace also expressed her enthusiasm for the bid. “Globeflight, the Proudly African, healthy living, eco conscious, rhino friendly courier, is excited to be involved in the bid process to bring Mr Gay World™ back to SA for Mr Gay World™ 2015 Cape Town & Knysna,” she commented.

The Globeflight Pink Loerie Mardi Gras & Arts Festival Knysna 2015 in association with TRIARC & MRGSA will take place from Wednesday 29 April to Sunday 3 May 2015.