Travel: Hot New Destinations, Events, Tours and Cruise Seminar Room 2 Saturday, Feb 27 @ 2:00 pm Sunday, Feb 28 @ 1:30 pm Gay Travel: Hot New Destinations, Events, Tours and Cruise Ed Salvato EdSalvato.com (Presentation available here)

Jeff Guaracino Gay and Tourism, the Essential Guide for Marketing

Tom Nibbio IGLTA.org The State of Gay Travel Today • How different from 2007, 2008, 2009? • Most travelers reduced travel in past year • Gay travelers cut back less than straight • 2009: staycations and lifetime trips • 2010: New reality; many opportunities On a Budget? You Gotta Work! The system, that is

•Insider tips: Play by their rules to maximize points!

•Package! Buy air//car together

•Be flexible. Going weekdays/last minute can save you money

•Twitter and Facebook and many more tools towards the end. Destinations: Best Deals

• London is more affordable then ever • Canada more expensive than normal • Hawaii/Alaska/Vegas incredible deals • Why? – The economy – The strength of the dollar; and – Over supply and less demand. Destinations Tried and True

• Key West, Ft. Lauderdale, Provincetown, Palm Springs • Support them now! • Loyalty and a great gay experience. • Good to support those that support our community via donations to fundraisers, etc. • Don't just go for the Priceline deals. • Make your gay dollars work hard. • Caveat Emptor: In a down economy, how do you trust destinations luring your gay dollars? Legal Gay Honeymoons Same-sex marriage legal • Belgium • Canada • Netherlands • Norway • South Africa • • Sweden Also… • Mexico: DF • United States: CT, DC, IA, MA, NH, VT, Coquille • Recognized: Aruba (Dutch only), Israel, Netherlands Antilles (Dutch only), United States: CA (conditional), NY Reward destinations that honor and respect our relationships. Exotic but not Necessarily Gay Destinations • India • Sri Lanka • China’s big cities • Mexico • Beirut • Turkey • Tel Aviv • Santiago and the Atacama Desert • Lima, Machu Pichu in Peru • • Y tambien: – Santiago, – Florianopolis, Mexico City – Bogota How to Get There: Tour Operators Alyson Adventures-www.alysonadventures.com Out2Africa-www.out2africa.com Gay adventure travels and adventures Luxury gay travel in Africa

Hans Ebensten Travel-www.hetravel.com Out Adventures-www.out-advetures.com Global adventures for 'uncommon' traveler Escorted travel; eco-friendly travel

Euro Panache=www.europanache.com Out in Alaska-www.outinalaska.com/ Gay-own, luxury tour operator Gay adventure travel in Alaska.

Gay2Afrika-gay2afrika.com OutWest Global Adventures- Gay specialist in Africa Travel www.outwestadventures.com/ Adventurous tours around the globe and gay dude Hermes Tours-hermestours.com ranch experience in Montana in the summer. The 'best value and discovery in small gay group travel' Outgoing Adventures-www.outgoingadventures.com/ Small-group, culturally-oriented touring experiences. Journey Out-journey-out.com Globat travel. Lots of deals. Savvy Navigator-www.savvynavigator.com Gay experiential journeys and gay tours to South Kuyay Travel-www.gaypatagonia.com Africa, Argentina and Costa Rica Gay tour operator in Patagonia, Chile; small groups; escorted tours.Kuyay means love in Quechua Tour Operators Spirit Journeys-www.spiritjourneys.com Spiritual journeys, retreats and workshops.

Toto Tours-www.tototours.com Gay-male only global travel and adventure tours.

Undersea Expeditions-www.underseax.com Gay scuba vacations

Venture Out-www.venture-out.com Cultural and easy-adventure tours around the world

Yukon Pride Adventure Tours-www.yukonpride.com Tours around the beautiful Canadian territory of Yukon (next to Alaska)

Zoom Vacations-www.zoomvacations.com Trips throughout the world, specializing in connecting travelers with culture

Steele Luxury Travel-www.steeletravel.com Luxury trips, events

Pride Travel-www.pride-travel.com South America Pink Air Gay-friendly Airlines • American Airlines (AA.com/rainbow) • Southwest (Southwest.com/gaytravel) • LAN • JetBlue • Air Canada • Air New Zealand • Alaska Air • Delta • Virgin Atlantic Staying Gay: • Gay chain hotel • Axel Hotels: Buenos Aires, , and just announced: New York • Gay hotel marketing group • World's Foremost Gay and Lesbian Hotels • 10 hotels in 8 resort destinations • www.worldsforemost.com • Gay vacation rentals: • Pink Pavilions Vacation Rentals • ParisMarais.com (gay-friendly apartment rentals) Staying Gay-friendly: Mainstream hotels conducting LGBT marketing

• Kimpton Hotels • Marriott – www.marriottgaytravel.com – MarriotHawaii.com • W Hotels • Wyndham • Caesars Atlantic City • Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas • Paris Hotel, Las Vegas – GayDaysandNights.com • Hyatt • Red Carnation • www.redcarnationhotels.com/gay_friendly_hotels Cruises and Tours Will I like a gay cruise? • Atlantis Events cruises (AtlantisEvents.com) • Solstice Exotic Caribbean Cruise; March 7-14 • Shanghai to Hong Kong Cruise; March 20-30 • Hong Kong to Singapore Cruise; March 30-April 9 • Copenhagen to Cruise; July 29- Aug 8 • to Athens Cruise on the Celebrity Equinox with overnight in Istanbul, Turkey; August 16-24 • Athens to Barcelona Cruise on the Celebrity Equinox with a stop in Tel Aviv (first time in 10 years); Aug 24- Sep 2 • LA to Mexico Cruise; Oct. 17-24 • All-gay resorts • Cancun; April 24-May 1 • Vallarta; Nov 6-13 Cruises and Tours • RSVP Vacations (RSVPVacations.com) • 25th anniversary in 2010 • Hawaii cruise 2010 (Oct 30-Nov 6) Cruises and Tours • R Family (RFamilyVacations.com) • Now offer groups on mainstream cruises and land-based vacations • Hawaii Spring Break Cruise; March 27-April 3; 400 guests • First-ever European Cruise; June 20-27; 400 guests • First-ever All-inclusive resort-Club Med Ixtapa, Mexico; July 10-17 – $20 million renovation – Will take over entire property • R Family Vacations Summer Reunion aboard the Norwegian EPIC, the world's newest cruise ship; August 14-21; 300 guests Cruises and Tours • Sweet (DiscoverSweet.com) • Hawaiian Islands Cruise; July 31-Aug 7 – Mention you heard it here and receive $100 credit to spend on the cruise. (Offer extended till end of March if you mention NY Times Travel Show when booking.) • Kenyan Safari; 10 days; Feb 7-16 • Salmon River Rafting' Aug 16-21 • Cozumel Palace Resort; Sep 4-11 Cruises and Tours • Olivia (Olivia.com) • Caribbean Sun Cruise; Oct 30-Nov 6 • Mexican Riviera Cruise; Mar 26-Apr 2 • Club Olivia in Ixtapa Mexico • Club Olilvia Cancun Resort • Palm Springs Spa Escape; Oct 13-17 • Club Olivia Columbus Isle Resort (Bahamas); Oct 16-23 Select Gay Winter Events

WinterPride Whistler, March 1-8-GayWhistler.com 2,500 gay and lesbian skiers converge in the Rockies. Relatively good representation among .

Winterfest Lake Tahoe, March 7-14-Winterfest.org A local pick for the gays by the Bay, Winterfest attracts hundreds of skiers from and Oakland to the Tahoe social event of the year..

Elevation Mammoth Mountain, March 17-21-Mammothgayski.com Elevation is the gay ski magnet of Southern California, temporarily transporting West Hollywood up 11,000 ft.

European Gay Ski Week Tinges, France, March 20-27-Europeangayskiweek.com This year’s event draws participants from across Europe.

Austria Gay Ski Week Saalbach, Austria, Mar 20-27-www.euroskipride.com A whole week of fun is planned, including a finale performance by Boy George.

CMH Gay Heli-Ski Trip Revelstoke, BC ($4,650 Canadian $), March 10 - 14, 2011- CMHSki.com/gaytrip Other Upcoming Events • Nat'l Gay & Lesbian Task Force Winter Party Festival , FL, March 3-8-WinterParty.com

• Equality Forum, Philadelphia, April 26-May 2- EqualityForum.com

• LGBT Expo, Jacob Javitz Center, NY, March 20-21- www.originalglbtexpo.com

• Gay Days, Orlando Florida, June 1-7-www.gaydays.com

• Gay Games VIII, Cologne, July 31-Aug 7- www.gaygamescologne.com • European cultural cities – 2010: Essen, ; Istanbul, Turkey; Pecs, Hungary – 2011: Turku, Finland, Tallinn, Estonia Events on the Horizon

• Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, February-March,- www.mardigras.org.au/ • The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival is the world’s premier gay and lesbian cultural festival. Spanning two weeks usually in February and March, the. Start planning for next year

• Olympics in gay-popular London, • July 27-Aug 12, 2012-www.london2012.com

• 3rd World Out Games, Antwerp, Belgium, Summer, 2013-www.woga2013.org Pride Events

Tel Aviv Pride, Tel Aviv, June 11, 2010 Heritage of Pride Week, New York City, June 19-27, NYCPride.org , June 26-27, SFPride.org Amsterdam Gay Pride, August 6-8- www.AmsterdamGayPride.nl/ , August 20-23, www.ManchsterPride.com Atlanta Gay Pride, October 9-10, AtlantaPride.org/ Online Gay Travel Tools

TripOutGayTravel.com InsiderOutTravel.com Damron.com OutAdvisor.com-with over 8000 reviews, listings worldwide. GayCities-To see how others FabuGo.com-Booking, content and rate gay nightlife community. Utopia-Asia.com PassportMagazine.com For all things gay in Asia GlobalGayz.com -with more of a worldwide LGBT cultural focus. GuideMag.com GetGayTravel.com -Online travel Patroc.com-Europe agency and concierge Purpleroofs.com-Lodging ShermansTravel- www.shermanstravel.com/blogs GirlPort.com /gay_travel IGLTA.com Online Mainstream Travel Tools

• Kayak.com • Orbitz • Orbitz Gay Travel Blog: www.orbitz.com/blog/category/gay-travel/ • GayTravelocity.com • Hotels.com • IgoUgo.com-reviews and photos • Hotwire • Expedia • TravelZoo-Deals emailed weekly • Oyster.com-1000s of undoctored hotel reviews and the world's most unbiased professional hotel reviews • Sidestep • Trip Advisor • Airfare Watch-Airline sites sometimes have specials only found there. • Seatguru-For selecting seats on an airplane. Social Travel Organizers

Twitter-To see what others have posted about other destinations, or throw out queries about places you’re visiting to the "Twitisphere." Yelp and Chowhound-Restaurants TravelMuse-Asks questions allows you to compare various vacation options according to your budget, time constraints, type of vacation, etc. NileGuide-Local information for travelers. TripIt-By forwarding your travel confirmation emails to TripIt.com, you'll have all your travel plans in one spot. Gliider-Very easy way to save travel information from any site in one convenient site. Just drag information to gliider and it's stored for future use. Dopplr-Helps you make more of your travels by sharing your personal and business travel plans privately with the people you trust; plus offers history of all your travels. Google Maps street view-For mapping out a trip; highlighting attractions Mobile Travel Apps

Gay cities Google Maps with GPS-Good for driving directions and just finding a spot via GPS. Also good for subway routings if in big cities. Skype on iPhone-Find an open WiFi hotspot and call for free. Big savings on roaming charges. Yelp, Chowhound Tripit Gtranslator-Great translation tool CoolGorilla-Travel guides for iphone Grindr-Great for meeting new people when you travel. Some destinations developing LGBT apps like visit London Q&A

Ask the travel experts!