Travel news for gay backpackers

Olympic hunk Matthew Mitcham visits Cairns for the first time

Australian Olympic diver (and gold medalist) Matthew Mitcham recently visited Cairns, Australia to promote a new gay travel website, Go2gayCairns.com. The website hopes to promote Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef to LGBT travelers.

Cairns, with its tropical climate and world-famous wildlife, makes for a great hotspot in northern Australia. I visited Cairns years ago and was impressed with the laid-back atmosphere of the not-so-big city. Plus the lagoon (shown below) was the perfect chill-out place after a day of snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. It seems this beach city has attracted gay travelers and locals, seeing as how the city is now home to a vibrant LGBT community, according to Go2GayCairns.

Mitcham and his long-time partner Lachlan spent a week in Cairns to be photographed for the Go2GayCairns website. It was their first visit to the Queensland city despite both being from the state. The gay travel website is independently funded by founder Jay Horne and was developed entirely by local gay companies. On their website, you can find gay travel information specific to Cairns. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter for postcard-perfect pictures from the region!

New gay magazine launches in Singapore

I‘m a big fan of magazines and one of the newest gay magazines has just launched in Singapore. ELEMENT is Singapore’s first lifestyle magazine for gay men

Homosexuality is criminalized in Singapore, but things seem to be changing. In 2009, the first legal LGBT outdoor rally, PinkDot, took place and visibility has only increased since then.

In a press release for the magazine’s debut, the publisher Noel Ng describes ELEMENT “like a dear friend to the Asian gay community: it puts them in the context of a larger society where we live in, encouraging them to take on shared social responsibilities towards building a more united society with trust and understanding.”

A gay lifestyle magazine with an agenda?

According to details from the magazine’s launch, ELEMENT will feature all the usual suspects: fashion, fitness & sex, but it will also address issues such as coming out, HIV/AIDS and finance (this is Singapore, remember?).

ELEMENT is available on the App store ($1.99 per issue) and Android Markets. There is no plan to create a print edition. Follow them on Facebook to cure that Gay Asian wanderlust.

elementmag.asia

The Circuit Week in Croatia: Sailing adventure this summer!

A recent post on Gay Star News included several insights into 2013 gay travel trends. In the article, friend of My Gay Travel Guide, Robert Sharp, listed Croatia as one of the potential hotspots for gay travelers this year.

Croatia has been a favorite beach holiday destination for years (and it’s why it’s always been on my list), but then I stumbled onto the gay sailing week run by the The Circuit Week. Maybe Croatia is more than it seems!

The Circuit Week is running an 8-day sailing adventure along the coast of Croatia from June 22-29, 2013.

What is The Circuit Week?

The Circuit Week is essentially a seven-day, gay sailing holiday along the coast of Croatia with the Kornati National Park as its crux. The sailing trip provides access to circuit parties, minimally habited and uninhabited islands with the Adriatic Sea as its backdrop. With the mild summers, calm waters and hundreds of people on board in the entire fleet, the C

Organized by the Meridijan Sailing Club which is a part of Croatia Sailing Alliance, The Circuit Week has a total of 10 sailing boats. Gay singles and couples from around the world will come together along with professional tour organizers who have extensive experience in organizing, managing and conducting sailing tours to create a unique and memorable holiday.

What’s there to do during 7 days of gay sailing?

Highlights for the trip include food, drinks and fun with special barbecues at solitary islands, circuit parties at private bays and also sports, music and entertainment adventures. Like many circuit parties around the world which start in the evening and go on uninterrupted into the wee hours of the morning, the Circuit Week will offer the perfect circuit party experience but with a slight difference. The venues of the circuit parties of The Circuit Week will take place in private bays and ports where there is no one around to be disturbed. No lowering of the music, no interruptions. Never has any gay sailing holiday been planned so meticulously to create an absolutely different world for seven days.

Learn more about The Circuit Week, and information on pricing and booking at their website: http://www.thecircuitweek.com/

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Sounds like my kind of holiday!

New website for gay apartment rentals: MisterBNB

Wasting my time on the internet the other day, I discovered mister bnb—a new website that offers gay and gay-friendly travelers a way to find short-term apartment rentals specifically tailored to the gay community. Anyone twenty-something who lives in some major city or destination is probably well aware of the phenomenon. Locals can rent out their apartment (or even just a room in the apartment) to travelers passing through. Initially these websites were called a “paid version of Couchsurfing.”

Nowadays, the trend is so evolved that there are search features which let you find short term apartment rentals based on any number of queries. mister bnb wants to target the gay travel market—a “niche” (ugh, I hate the word) that is obviously on the rise if you pay much attention to the travel industry.

Co-founder Matthieu Jost found using apartment rental sites when traveling with his boyfriend was sometimes uncomfortable. “Having had experience renting apartments to individuals I quickly realized the limitations of apartment rental sites. I could sometimes notice how apartment owners felt uncomfortable with me staying with my boyfriend, and it made us feel uncomfortable too.”

Personally, I haven’t found an apartment rental service yet that I’ve liked. The idea is always nice, but the amenities are always lacking. But having a gay-specific rental doesn’t sound bad to me at all. In fact, it’s something I’d prefer over most other rentals which are often all business and lack much character.

At least with a gay apartment rental, I know I could at the very least get some gay travel tips out of the deal. Would you rent an apartment through mister bnb if you knew all the apartments are gay-friendly and offer local tips for gay travelers? Check out their website at www.misterbnb.com

Berlin launches hotel network for LGBT guests

I’ve written plenty of articles about Berlin’s oh-so-gay character. From hip gay bars to downright dirty clubs, Berlin is one of the world’s best places to live and to visit for the LGBT. Already, some estimates say that 6% of tourists to Berlin identify as LGBT.

Visit Berlin seems to have caught onto the city’s special appeal and has launched a new “Pink Pillow Berlin Collection.” The initiative isn’t just about finding and recommending gay-friendly hotels, but also takes an active role in making sure members participate in social LGBT projects. The city’s long history with gay rights (Berlin was once a safe haven for gays & lesbians in the 1920s) has certainly influenced Berlin’s reputation as a gay hotspot today. Last year, Europe’s first residence for multigenerational LGBT residents opened in Berlin and the diverse population in Berlin is regularly pushing the boundaries on sexuality and equality. Just last week I attended a panel discussion in Berlin about Germany’s gay rights (read that story here).

The Pink Pillow collection launched in March during the ITB travel trade show. With 23 member hotels, including the nhow Berlin, Westin Grand and others, it’s sure to attract even more LGBT visitors to Berlin who don’t already know about the city’s gay-friendliness.

With Christopher Street Day coming up in June, Pink Pillow will surely be a big hit with the gays. What do you think?