Condé Nast Traveler Writer Calls Out Questionable LGBTQ+ Travel List
We, at Vacationer Magazine, are always happy when other travel publications and queer writers call out marketing and research that play into the same old stereotype – the LGBTQ+ community is homogenous. In an article on Condé Nast Traveler’s website, How to Find the Best Destinations for LGBTQ+ Travelers, writer Matt Ortile asserts the idea that that stereotype is far from the truth. The article dives into talking about an LGBTQ+ Travel Index, a ranking of “the best places for LGBTQ+ travelers to visit around the U.S. and abroad.” ParkSleepFly, a travel company that sells hotel and parking packages, published the list in September of 2021.
On one list, America’s Most LGBTQ-Friendly Destinations, the top three cities are Orlando, Palm Springs, and Fort Lauderdale. On the international list, World’s Most LGBTQ-Friendly Destinations, Portugal’s popular cities, Lisbon and Porto, clinched the top two spots, and Cologne, Germany received the number three spot. The company used various metrics to determine where the cities landed on the LGBTQ+ Travel Index, including the inclusivity of a city’s laws and regulations, but also by the number of LGBTQ+ events listed on Wikipedia and the number of local bars and clubs listed on TripAdvisor.
Ortile quickly points out a few flaws. “This seems off to me; it implies that all queer travelers want to go somewhere to party, without clarifying if those venues are necessarily queer-friendly.” The list raises a lot of questions, and he digs deeper to answer the question, “What is best for LGBTQ+ travelers,” by talking to industry insiders. In the article, Bryan Herb, co-founder and chief marketing officer of Zoom Vacations said using the word “best” is relative and that it’s “reductive to paint people in the queer community and their priorities with broad strokes.”
These types of “best” lists don’t consider that the most popular cities are usually popular vacation destinations for gay men, which leaves out a huge part of the LGBTQ+ community. For example, places like Palm Springs or Puerta Vallarta may be high on a gay man’s radar, but no one should ever assume that same criterion applies to the destinations that appeal to a lesbian, transgender, or queer person of color. Our community is not homogenous, and a city’s gay bars are not the criteria by which we should rank cities as the “best” destinations for everyone in the LGBTQIA+ community.
Ortile also uncovers the fact that our travel personalities are as diverse as our coveted revised rainbow flag. Within the community, a person who may enjoy an all-gay cruise may not like a multi-day hiking trip in the Dolomites, and vice versa. Taking it a step further, some adventurous queer travelers may want to explore beyond the normal LGBTQ+-friendly haunts and prefer to visit more exotic destinations, like Eygpt, where personal safety is sometimes a concern for some travelers especially when it comes to a same-sex couple kissing in public. We choose our travel experiences based on various criteria, including our personal interests and comfort level.
Kudos to Ortile for focusing on pervasive issue many companies in the travel industry fail to see – our diversity. It doesn’t matter if the article was published on Condé Nast Traveler’s website, another mainstream publication, or Vacationer Magazine – it’s good to know there are good stewards out there trying to move the needle of progress in a positive direction so that all of our differences are fully seen and acknowledged.
