Bill Gehrman, left, discusses this summer’s Gay Pride Festival with Joyce Marieb and Ron deHarte.

Despite the brutal attacks on several men following Hillcrest’s 2006 Gay Pride Festival parade and a recent crime spike in the area, including the random shooting death of a man dining with his wife at a local cafe, this year’s festival is expected to be the most successful ever.

According to Ron deHarte, executive director of San Diego Gay Pride, the event’s organizer, the list of vendors for the July 21-22 event currently totals 30 compared with 15 at this time last year.

“That is a clear indication that we will continue to go forward and we’ll break a record from a vendor standpoint,” deHarte said. “We expect our revenue to come 10 percent ahead of where we were in 2006.” The festival attracted 300 vendors in 2006.

An unaudited statement shows that revenue from a variety of sources, including ticket sales, vendor rents, parade entry fees, sponsorship fees and beverage sales for the 2006 event were “just over $1 million,” he said. There were 50 sponsors last year. Sponsorship support amounts range from $3,000 to $50,000. Vendor rates this year range from $250 to $2,500.

The Gay Pride Festival is now in its 33rd year. Since 1996, it has contributed $1 million to groups focused on health, education and welfare, arts and culture and civil rights in Southern California.

Expectations are that 200,000 people, 30 percent of whom will travel from out of town, will attend this year’s event — one of the largest in the country.

While the man wanted in the fatal shooting remained at large as of last week, two men and a teenager involved in the beating and stabbing attacks on the gay men have been convicted and sentenced. Another man was convicted and sentenced as an accessory.

But Chris Shaw, owner of Urban Moe’s and Baja Betty’s, two drinking and dining establishments in Hillcrest, said he thinks the attacks on the gay men “were out of the norm,” and he’s not worried about repeat incidents at the upcoming festival.

A Warmer Climate

“The social climate has changed, gay people are so much more accepted,” Shaw said. “They’re not threatened so much. Attacks don’t seem to happen as much now as back in the early days.”

DeHarte agrees.

“In the early 1970s, Gay Pride was a civil rights movement, and as the years have gone on, it has shifted to being about awareness, education and a community celebration — a chance to reflect on where it came from and where it’s going,” deHarte said.

While statistics show that violent crime is down and the city is safe, Shaw commends the cohesive community of Hillcrest for quickly responding to a spate of street robberies in the area by forming the volunteer Stonewall Citizens’ Patrol. In coordination with the San Diego police, the volunteers patrol the area from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Thursday through Sunday.

DeHarte said that the Police Department will beef up its patrol during the festival, as will its organizers.

“I feel really safe here,” Shaw said.

And fortunate from a business standpoint.

During July, when gay pride festivals are held, Shaw said his revenue goes up by 40 percent as many event-goers who travel from out of town stay in San Diego for a full week’s vacation.

“We average around 35,000 people through our doors a month, and in July it’s generally 50,000 to 55,000,” he added.

San Diego No. 11

According to a national online survey of 2,000 self-identified gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender, or GLBT, adult travelers by the Travel Industry Association of America, San Diego ranked No. 11 in a four-way tie with Boston, Chicago and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., among the top gay-friendly U.S. destinations.

The study also showed that on average gay men traveling alone on their most recent trip spent nearly a third more on expenses — $800 — than did heterosexuals, who spent an average of $540 traveling alone.

The San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau, which lists information on activities, special events and accommodations for the GLBT community under the heading “San Diego From Gay to Z” has targeted this niche market for several years, said bureau spokesman Sal Giametta.

“The bottom line is we do view this as an important market and we have stepped up our focus on it in the last five years,” he said.

In anticipation of a higher-than-ever turnout, ConVis is working with the Gay Pride Festival’s organizers to book a block of 11,750 nightly stays at local hotel rooms that will provide availability at special rates.

Bill Gehrman, associate publisher of the Philadelphia-based Navigaytor, which publishes GLBT travel guides in several cities, says he expects that the third edition of its San Diego guide, due out in June, will have 30 pages. In 2005, it had 18.

He credits the Greater San Diego Business Association, also known as the Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and ConVis with helping to make the guide a success.