Circa Pict. & Prod. Co. Intnl Inc. (fka CPPD)

[skunksyard]

interesting gay travel article....2/9/03

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/02/09/TR242339.DTL

Gay, lesbian travelers outward-bound
More countries, companies put out welcome mat for same-sex tourists

David Swanson, Special to the Chronicle Sunday, February 9, 2003


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When the Cayman Islands yanked the welcome mat away from a group of gay cruise ship passengers five years ago, they didn't realize they were bucking one of the biggest trends in the travel industry.

Apparently they do now. Independent gay travelers and those who support them boycotted the Caymans, heading instead to the dozens of countries actively courting them. Recently MacKeeva Bush, the Caribbean nation's current tourism minister, offered an olive branch of sorts: "The incident . . . happened during a prior administration," he said. "As a country, the Cayman Islands does not discriminate against any social group and receives all visitors to our shores."

It was a tacit acknowlegment of what most of the world has already discovered: Increasingly, gay and lesbian travelers are venturing far beyond the traditional "safe havens" of Provincetown, Key West and Palm Springs, the resort towns long known for their gay-owned lodging and gay-tolerant attitudes.

Travel agents, airlines, countries and cities are lining up to identify their products as "gay-friendly." American Airlines, Avis car rentals and W Hotels are just a few of the mainstream outfits spending money to advertise to the gay audience.

The lure: a piece of the estimated $54.1 billion that American gays and lesbians spend annually on travel.

A recent study by Community Marketing, a San Francisco market research firm specializing in the gay community, found that 91 percent of those questioned had taken a trip in the previous 12 months, compared with a national average of 64 percent. Those surveyed were 10 times as likely as heterosexuals to have taken a cruise, and 84 percent of gays and lesbians have a valid passport, compared to 29 percent of mainstream adult travelers.

Traditionally, gay-specific tours and cruises have been the most visible type of gay tourism. Atlantis Events (www.atlantis


events.com), which organized the gay cruise to the Caymans, puts together eight or more gay-specific vacations annually, ranging from a 40-person Kenyan safari tour to 2,000-passenger cruise trips through the Mediterranean and Caribbean. Atlantis president Rich Campbell reports that last year, which was bad for travel as a whole, his business was up 40 percent.

Business was also up last year at Olivia Cruises and Resorts (www.olivia. com), which offers tours to Alaska, Tahiti and Scandinavia for lesbians.

"People like to travel in like-minded groups," said Robert Wilson, executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association. "There are gay groups going into Tibet, to Turkey, everywhere."

Independent travel by gays and lesbians is also on the rise.

"Every tour operator and travel agent I've interviewed in the past year has said that their gay clients are increasingly less interested in just seeking out gay-specific accommodations and experiences, and going more toward overall experiences in a comfortable environment," said Mark Chesnut, author of "The Gay Vacation Guide." "They are more interested in exploring new places, (such as) Asia, Africa and South America."

Great Britain, one of the first countries to actively court the gay travel market, operates a gay Britain info line (877-857-2462) and a gay-specific Web site, www. gaybritain.org.

Following suit, France (http://us. franceguide.com/publi_gay friendly.asp), Germany (www.

visits-to-germany.com, www.ber lin-tourism.de), Switzerland (www. myswitzerland.com/gay), and Austria (www.austria-tour ism.com/gay) are touting their appeal to gay and lesbian travelers.

Australia has been a top destination for gay travelers for about two decades, in part for its largely tolerant attitudes, according to Samantha Collins, spokeswoman for the Australian Tourism Commission.

Sydney's Gay Games were attended by 30,000 last November, and Sydney's annual gay Mardi Gras celebration (www.mardi gras.org.au) in February draws upwards of 700,000 attendees (including local and non-gay revelers). In addition to gay-friendly accommodations, nightlife and festivals, there's even a campy but educational motor coach tour of the city's gay landmarks, led by a drag queen in full regalia (www.sydneybydiva.com). Tourist officials operate their own Web site for gay travelers, www.gay. australia.com.

"You can do almost anything in Australia," said Collins, "from trekking through Tasmanian wilderness, to wine country tours, to diving the Great Barrier Reef, to camel safaris in the outback."

South Africa doesn't maintain a separate Web site for gay visitors, but its main tourist Web site (www.southafrica.net) offers this statement: "We are proud to say that we have one of the most progressive constitutions in the world with regard to human rights. So, unlike some of our neighbors, gay rights are protected by our constitution and we are a very gay-friendly country."

As destinations and suppliers identify the economic value of gay outreach, insiders say it's important that they not lose sight of what makes a place desirable to the gay or lesbian traveler.

"A destination is gay-friendly when it is able to make these visitors feel comfortable," says author Chesnut. "Gay and lesbian travelers don't want to go somewhere that will make them feel threatened, or unwelcome. It's not so much about just being in a 100 percent gay environment. Like any minority group, we would prefer to be somewhere we feel safe, comfortable and relatively welcome. Other groups, like African Americans, can be sensitive to this kind of need as well, and it's no different for us."

The destination needs to understand the special needs of this segment of the travel industry, says Wilson of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association. "That people walking around holding hands or being affectionate will not feel embarrassed or uncomfortable; that a couple of same gender requesting a single bed will not feel awkward. And that applies to the straight person selling the room, as well."

Not every country welcomes, or even tolerates, gay and lesbian travelers. Perhaps the most famous incident was the one involving the Cayman Islands in 1998. The nation revoked docking privileges on Grand Cayman Island for a cruise ship chartered by gay tour operator Atlantis Events. "Careful research and prior experience has led us to conclude that we cannot count on this group to uphold the standards of appropriate behavior expected of visitors to the Cayman Islands," wrote then-tourism minister Thomas Jefferson at the time. And while his successor has repudiated the statement, the Cayman Islands has never officially retracted or clarified the earlier position.

"If they changed their policy we would go to Grand Cayman tomorrow," said Rich Campbell of Atlantis Events. "It's conveniently located (and) it has a lot to offer."

But as a whole, the Caribbean is not the most gay-friendly region in the world. "Some of the islands are extremely homophobic," said Wilson of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association. The former British colonies, particularly Jamaica, are especially resistant to homosexuality. The tag-line "couples-only" at all-inclusive resort chains such as Sandals means heterosexual couples only, and same-sex couples are not allowed to check in.

But attitudes vary greatly from one island to the next, and several -- notably Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands -- have ties to the gay community and actively market to it. Gay-friendly lodgings are found in Jamaica, the British Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic, and an accepting atmosphere prevails throughout Dutch Caribbean islands such as Curacao, Saba and St. Maarten.

Although South Africa encourages gay and lesbian visitors, two neighboring African countries -- Namibia and Zimbabwe -- have leaders that actively dissuade them. In a speech at the University of Namibia, President Sam Nujoma said: "See to it there are no criminals, gays and lesbians in your villages. Namibia does not allow homosexuality and lesbianism -- police are ordered to arrest you and deport you and imprison you."

Countries with a strict Muslim orthodoxy are not particularly welcoming, although several -- particularly Morocco, Turkey and Egypt -- have been popular gay destinations for years. However, Egypt came under fire from human rights organizations for the arrest, torture and trial last year of 52 suspected homosexuals for "contempt of religion."

"In general, there are few places that I as a gay man would completely avoid," Chesnut said. "I've been to Europe, Africa, Asia and throughout the Americas, all with few problems related to being gay."

Gay travel insiders say one shouldn't define a place solely by reputation. "You can have a homophobic encounter in San Francisco and the most welcoming experience in a place like Syria," said Ed Salvato, editorial director of the gay travel newsletter Out & About, which is produced in San Francisco.

In some destinations, gay and lesbian visitors have become so common that they're now part of the mainstream. Case in point: the Netherlands, which was one of the first countries to heavily promote itself to the gay market, no longer does so.

"We have discovered that within that market segment, everyone has heard about Amsterdam being the gay capital of Europe," said Conrad Van Tiggelen, director for the Netherlands Board of Tourism. "Everyone knows Holland for its tulips, too. So I'm not going to spend money to promote our tulips."



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IF YOU GO

PERIODICALS
-- Our World is a destination-oriented gay and lesbian travel magazine, published 10 times a year; subscriptions are $25 (or $12 as an on-line subscription); (386) 441- 5367; www.ourworldmagazine. com.

-- Out & About is a newsletter that covers destinations and industry topics, published 10 times a year; subscriptions are $39 ($20 on-line); [phone]; www.outandabout.com.

-- Passport is a newer magazine dealing with gay and lesbian travel, including tips for businesspeople, published eight times a year; subscriptions are $19.95; (800) 999- 9718; www.passportmagazine.net.

-- Gay Travel News is a free gay destination Web site, updated quarterly. The site links visitors to 200 gay-friendly travel agents and hotels around the world; www.gaytravel news.com.


BOOKS
-- The Damron library of gay and lesbian guidebooks includes "The Women's Traveler" (2003, Damron, $16.95), "Men's Travel Guide" (2003, Damron, $18.95), "Damron Accommodations" (2003, Damron, $22.95), "Damron Road Atlas" (2003, Damron, $21.95); [phone].

-- "Fodor's Gay Guide to the USA" covers travel and places to stay throughout the U.S. and Canada (2002, Fodor's, $21.50); [phone].

-- "Frommer's Gay and Lesbian Europe" deals with transportation, lodging, sightseeing, nightlife options and cultural expectations (2003, Wiley, $24.99);

[phone] ext. 23987.

-- "The Gay Vacation Guide," by Mark Chesnut, concentrates on gay travel activities including tours and adventure vacations (2002, Kensington Books, $15); [phone].