According to Community Marketing Inc.'s 2010 LGBT Tourism Study, the most popular U.S. cities among gay and lesbian travelers are New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles. New Orleans' popularity continues to rise as it recovers from Hurricane Katrina damage, and Washington D.C., is the top destination for business travel. Denver gets high marks from "Curve Magazine" and "The Advocate" for its Gay and Lesbian Center, girl-friendly First Friday parties at Tracks Nightclub, and gay country-western bar, Charlie's. And Provincetown continues to hold iconic status with the gay community.
"Out Traveler" cites Berlin, Buenos Aires, London, Montreal, Paris, Shanghai and Toronto as noteworthy international cities for gay travelers. Vancouver's indie music history has lesbian appeal, says "Curve," and Lesvos Island, Greece, scores points for being the home of classical poet and famed lesbian Sappho.
Travelers who like the community feel of an all-gay vacation have a number of options. The website GayTravel lists a number of all-gay U.S. and international cruises ranging from roughly $400 to $4,000 per person. Also, gay hotels and resorts are cropping up in places like Miami, Fort Lauderdale, New York, Barcelona, Buenos Aires and Berlin, offering visitors the opportunity to meet and travel with like-minded people. Vacationers also can travel to Palm Springs for circuit parties like the well-known Palm Springs White Party for men and Dinah Shore Week for women.
June is Gay Pride Month in the United States, so this is a popular time for gay individuals to travel to pride festivals. Community Marketing Inc.'s survey says that 20 percent of gay and lesbian travelers attend yearly pride events and find the experience to be valuable. CheapFlights lists the pride festivals of San Francisco, Sydney, Amsterdam, New York, London, Miami, Sao Paulo, Las Vegas, Toronto and Berlin as the top 10 pride fests in the world. These festivals include street parties and concerts, LGBT community-related debates and discussions, political rallies and parades.
