Had “the Eltons” decided to mark the occasion with a special trip, they would have had a head-spinning number of photo-friendly options under the banner of gay and lesbian travel: snorkelling with sharks in the Galapagos islands, dancing until dawn in a Buenos Aires bar, nude hiking in the San Bernardino mountains or taking a “Leather Pirates of the Caribbean” ride in Walt Disney World.

While the old warhorses of the international gay scene — New York, Sydney, San Francisco, Mykonos, Ibiza — show no sign of losing their draw, gay travellers are expanding their horizons, with gay ski weeks, activity and adventure holidays and, of course, gay honeymoons among the latest trends. With the launch of US movie and TV star Rosie O’Donnell’s R Family cruise ships for gay parents and their kids, gay family travel has appeared on the radar.

But perhaps most radical is the widespread integration of the gay and mainstream sections of the business. “There has been a huge cultural shift,” says Matt Link, the New York-based contributing travel editor to Gay.com.

“Prejudices have been eroded by gay travellers and the media, and now major airlines and travel agents all over the world have dedicated gay sections on their websites. Hotel chains such as Hyatt and Starwood now train their staff in gay sensitivity, reducing the traditional red-faced confusion at front desk as to why two men or women want to share a double bed.”

Much of this is down to money, of course. Survey after survey confirms that gay men and women have more disposable income and travel more expensively than their straight counterparts. And where the stakes are highest, the change has been almost total.

Glen Donovan, of the discreet travel agency Earth (www.earthlondon.com), says: “With a few notable exceptions, the world’s best resorts wouldn’t dream of treating a gay couple differently. For next year there is already a buzz about the Evason Hideaway and Spa at Ana Mandara in Vietnam, Maia in the Seychelles and Yaukuve in Fiji, but the reception here will be the same whether you’re gay or straight.

"I’m as likely to recommend them to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as Sir Elton John and David Furnish. Just as there’s no such thing as ‘Black travel’ or ‘Jew travel’, perhaps there’s no such thing as ‘gay travel’ now. Isn’t that outrageous?”

COMING OUT IN 2006

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA

Roll over Rio, Latin America has a new gay capital. Exploiting the cheap peso, devalued after Argentina’s economic crash of 2001, a new generation of tourists flocked to the capital city and witnessed a glorious renaissance in what had, for

much of the 20th century, been the cultural jewel of South America. Exemplary anti-discrimination and same-sex civil union legislation has attracted the gay market to Buenos Aires’s thrilling mix of flamboyantly Latino nightlife and elegant European architecture. And just in time for the tango’s triumphant return to its all-male roots, this time in the gay clubs.
Stay in Philippe Starck’s Faena Hotel and Universe
(www.faenahotelanduniverse.com), or follow in Madonna’s footsteps by staying at the Four Seasons (www.fourseaons.com/buenosaires). Best nightspots are Amerika (www.ameri-k.com.ar) and Palacio (Alsina 940, www.palaciobuenosaires.com).

Online: www.thegayguide.com.ar

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