This is the 7th Annual Gay Travel Awards, and it is our honor to present The Gay Travel Awards Winners!
On behalf of gay travelers worldwide, we congratulate these exemplary travel-related businesses, hotels, destinations, tours, events, and influencers on their accomplishments in making our world a more inclusive and welcoming place! The winners across 38 categories were selected from among hundreds of deserving nominees. Without further ado, it is our honor to present The 2022 Gay Travel Awards Winners!
A leading gay tour operator and the world’s second-largest cruise line company is politely asking gay cruise passengers to stop making porn films during voyages.
LGBTQ+ travel company Atlantis Events and Royal Caribbean signed a joint notice, asking horny holiday-makers on board the Harmony of the Seas ship to stop making adult movies for OnlyFans or Just For Fans, or posting naked photos from the vessel.
Anyone breaking this new rule will be kicked off the gay cruise.
The Fort Lauderdale cruise ship, which is considered to be one of the largest passenger ships ever built, left for a week-long queer trip across the Caribbean on Saturday (4 February).
But, prior to the event, Atlantis Events warned passengers not to share adult videos from any of their ships after several adult videos reportedly went viral in the past.
“While we want everyone to have fun, there are limits and so we ask that you be respectful of all guests and our cruise partners,” a section of the guest handbook read.
“Please do not post anything explicitly sexual on social media in a public forum or other online space,” it continued.
“Any guest who posts or publishes an explicit and publicly visible photo or video will be asked to leave the ship with no refund.”
Royal Carribean is one of the largest cruise companies in the world. (Getty)
Regular cruisers have suggested that the policy was implemented sometime in October 2022, as no handbook prior to the date advised against explicit content during Atlantis Events trips.
It reportedly applies to all forms of social media platforms, including private or paywall accounts such as Onlyfans.
To help combat the apparent wave of cruise ship pornography being taken on the ship, the company said it had hired a “team of volunteers” to monitor the site.
But, as Just For Fans founder Dominic Ford told Buzzfeed News: “If models are careful and smart about filming, they should be fine.
“It’s a shame that sex work and pornography are still marginalised and stigmatised,” Ford continued.
“But we need to find ways of working with our friends and allies to make sure everyone’s safe spaces are protected.”
A policy preventing adult videos was reportedly requested by officials of cruise ship companies, according to Atlantis Events CEO Rich Campbell.
“The cruise lines have asked me to include that and that’s not such a strange request, he said. “They don’t want their brand featured.”
While companies such as OnlyFans have terms of service prohibiting creators from violating intellectual property rights, there are seemingly no laws against non-sexual recreational cruise photos being posted online.
The International LGBTQ+ Travel Association Foundation is holding its first symposium to discuss expanding LGBTQ+ tourism in India this week. During the free event on 2 February, members of the IGLTA team and the association’s global network join thought leaders from India to network and conduct educational sessions in the welcoming environment of The LaLiT New Delhi, one of the newest hotel members of IGLTA.
As part of its ongoing efforts to support IGLTA’s global travel community, the IGLTA Foundation is enhancing its outreach in strategic emerging destinations. In 2020, the Foundation formed a task force comprised of travel professionals in India and those who promote travel to its many cities and cultural sites, which led to this educational symposium.
“Through IGLTA Foundation efforts like our India Initiative, we can increase understanding of global LGBTQ+ tourism,” said IGLTA President/CEO John Tanzella. “We are so excited to discuss the opportunities for LGBTQ+ travel to and from India, given the huge projections for the country’s tourism growth. It is essential that this growth values all travelers and makes them feel genuinely welcome.”
Topics of the symposium include best practices for LGBTQ+ tourism and practical advice for creating more inclusive hospitality offerings. Among the speakers are: IGLTA President/CEO John Tanzella and VP-Communications LoAnn Halden; Keshav Suri, Executive Director, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group; Rudrani Chhetri, LGBTQIA+ Rights Activist and Founder, Mitr Trust;
Don Heflin , Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs, U.S. Embassy; Jonathan Heimer, Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs, U.S. Embassy; Tom Kiely, President/CEO, Visit West Hollywood; Elliott Ferguson, President/CEO, Destination DC; Fred Dixon, President/CEO, NYC & Company; as well as representatives from Lemon Tree Hotels, Serene Journeys, and The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group.
“We are delighted to partner with IGLTA for this first-ever symposium on expanding LGBTQ+ tourism,” said Keshav Suri, Executive Director, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group. “It is a great opportunity to engage and explore the potential of pink tourism. As per World Bank data, the inclusion of an able and talented workforce from the LGBTQIA + community and the ‘Power of Pink Money’ can contribute up to 1.7% to the growth of Indian GDP. In order to achieve an egalitarian society, we as individuals and organizations must become the catalysts. As India spearheads the G20 forum this year, the theme is a reflection of our commitment towards inclusion for all: One Earth, One Family, One Future. ”
A complete list of speakers and topics for the IGLTA Foundation LGBTQ+ Travel Symposium in India can be found here.
This event would not be possible without the generous support of Visit West Hollywood, Destination DC, NYC & Company, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group and the Keshav Suri Foundation.
About IGLTA & the IGLTA Foundation
The International LGBTQ+ Travel Association is the global leader in advancing LGBTQ+ travel and a proud Affiliate Member of the United Nations World Tourism Organization. IGLTA’s mission is to provide information and resources for LGBTQ+ travelers and expand LGBTQ+ tourism globally by demonstrating its significant social and economic impact. IGLTA global network includes 12,000 LGBTQ+ and LGBTQ+ welcoming accommodations, destinations, service providers, travel agents, tour operators, events, and travel media in 80 countries. The philanthropic IGLTA Foundation empowers LGBTQ+ welcoming travel businesses globally through leadership, research, and education. For more information: iglta.org, igltaconvention.org or iglta.org/foundation and follow us on Facebook @IGLTA, @IGLTABusiness or @IGLTAFoundation, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram @iglta.
On Tuesday, Indonesia passed a 200-page criminal code that bans sex outside marriage. The penalty is up to one year in prison.
This code also bans cohabitation before marriage, and places new limits on freedom of speech.
Insulting the president, or expressing ideas counter to “national ideology,” carries penalties of up to five years in prison.
This new criminal code applies to citizens and foreigners alike, including tourists.
Putu Winastra, chairman of the Association of the Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies, told CNN that the laws should “make foreigners think twice” about visiting Indonesia.
Winastra expressed that foreign couples might have to prove they are married or else risk jail time. This could be trickier for same-sex couples.
There have been troubling reports about the dangers to LGBTQ+ travelers for some time in the largest Muslim-majority nation in the world.
In January 2020, an American lesbian couple were deported from Indonesia after touting the island of Bali as “queer-friendly.”
That same month, a same-sex couple in Indonesia’s Aceh province were publicly flogged 77 times after being caught having gay sex, which is forbidden under Sharia law.
In August, 2022, Rodrigo Ventocilla, a transgender Harvard Kennedy School student from Peru, died while on honeymoon in Bali after being detained at customs. The circumstances surrounding his death remain unknown.
If you do travel to hostile places like Indonesia, do your research first, share your plans with others, and try to avoid anything that could put you in danger.
But honestly? I don’t think we look anything alike. Michael has a full head of silver hair — and I’m bald. Michael is at least three inches taller than I am.
And yet, as we travel, I’ve literally lost track of the number of times people have mistaken us for brothers. People often — often — even assume we’re twins!
Here’s the explanation I’ve come up with for why this happens: it’s unusual for two middle-aged men to be traveling together, especially if we’re sharing a room. If we’re in a country or culture where out same-sex couples are unusual or non-existent, people search for a label to apply to us. “Brothers” is the best explanation they can come up with that makes sense to them.
Plus, we act very comfortable and familiar together, like, well, brothers.
Truthfully, if this is the worst thing that ever happens to us on our travels, we’ll be very lucky. And so far, it is the worst thing, at least when it comes to our being gay.
In fact, we’ve found the world to be far more gay-tolerant than we expected, even in countries known for LGBTQ bigotry.
Then again, we’re relatively wealthy Westerners, and the locals in most countries have a financial interest in treating us well. Things are often very different for resident LGBTQ people.
We’re also men, who don’t have to deal with sexism, and we’re conventionally masculine, which means we can easily maneuver in cultures with more traditional gender roles.
We also try to do our due diligence before going anywhere, and we always approach travel with the idea that we’re guests in the places that we visit. That means we try to learn about and respect local customs and values — within reason, of course.
Surprisingly, we haven’t seen much of the homophobia monster in our travels.
But this doesn’t mean there aren’t still challenges to travel while being LGBTQ.
For one thing, something serious probably will go wrong at some point in our travels, and we’ll have to deal with the local authorities and/or police.
If it’s obvious we’re a gay couple, and there’s some kind of dispute, will the authorities take our side? If the problem involves homophobia, might the authorities even take the side of the bigot?
It’s a scary thought.
Then there’s the general discomfort of constantly having to decide whether or not to come out — and exactly how “out” we want to be in any given situation.
When we were living in Tbilisi, Georgia, we decided to hire a driver to take us and some friends on a road trip into neighboring Armenia for three days. The deal was the driver would supply the car and his expertise, and we would pay him a fee — and also pay for his food and lodging along the way.
But when Michael was making the arrangements via text, he asked me, “Do you think I should tell the driver we’re gay?”
“Why would you do that?” I responded.
“Well, we’re all going to be together in his car for three days. If he’s got an issue, I’d rather know now than once we’re in Armenia.”
“Don’t tell him,” I said. “That seems weird. ‘By the way, we’re gay’? He’ll probably be more freaked out by that than anything.”
“But if I don’t tell him, then it’ll come up during the trip. And how weird would that be? We’re all staying in the same hotels. He’ll see you and I are sharing a bed.”
This was a very familiar conversation — the kind of thing Michael and I discuss all the time. I’m generally more cautious than he is. And in this particular case, the driver had come with a very reasonable price and a strong recommendation from someone we knew. I really didn’t want to lose him, and I said so.
“What if he asks us directly?” Michael asked me.
“If we’re gay?” I said. “Please. He won’t ask. And if he does, we can always lie.”
I could tell Michael didn’t agree with me, but he went ahead and booked the driver without mentioning our being a couple.
And a few weeks later, when we finally met the driver in person, literally the first thing he said, once we were all settled into his car, was, “So, Michael, are you married?”
I was sitting in the back seat with our two friends, which was a good thing because I was pretty sure Michael wanted to strangle me. He lied and told the driver he wasn’t married, just like I had instructed, but even that didn’t help matters. For the next three days, our driver repeatedly peppered Michael — and only Michael — with questions about his love life.
During those three days, I was also very aware how often LGBTQ issues — or details about Michael’s and my relationship — came up in casual conversations with our friends.
In Armenia with friends, during a brief moment when Michael didn’t want to strangle me.
By the time we returned to Tbilisi, our driver must have figured out we were a couple. But whether he had or hadn’t, Michael was right: we should have told him in advance.
Still, who needs all that stress?
Then there’s the fact that, safety issues aside, we genuinely want to be out. It’s undignified and humiliating to have to pretend you’re someone you’re not.
And, frankly, we’re from a generation where we’ve always seen our being out as a political act — about yourself but also about a greater “cause”; younger generations seem to see it as more about individual expression, but that’s cool too.
Either way, visibility matters. In homophobic countries, it matters even more. By being out and proud, we can act as role models for younger LGBTQ folks, and we can confound the stereotypes or misinformation that straight people might have about us.
But that’s complicated too. When we lived in Istanbul, Michael got to know the man who ran the bakery near our apartment.
In his regular chats with the man, Michael revealed the details of his and my travels, and the two of them shared social media profiles. But Michael was always unsure how this traditional Muslim family man might react if Michael specifically referred to me as his “husband.”
Which is precisely the point. For me, the best part of our travels has been the connections I’ve made with all the people I’ve met along the way.
But in more conservative countries, being gay — and feeling anxious how people might react to that fact — makes those connections more difficult. How close can you get to someone if you can’t be honest about something so basic about yourself?
On the other hand, sometimes being gay has made those connections even deeper.
That Turkish baker Michael met? Not long after we left town, the baker “liked” a picture of Michael and me being affectionate on social media.
An ever better example came in Vietnam, where we lived several years ago. Michael and I joined a local co-working space, which was run by a Vietnamese woman.
Michael does the grocery shopping in our family, and he also knows that I liked the fruit smoothies made by a vendor there. So every time he made a trip to the local market, he would pick up a mango smoothie for me and stop by the co-working space on his bike to drop it off on his way home.
Not Vietnam, alas.
Before long, the Vietnamese woman began to notice, and she would smile every time Michael delivered me another mango smoothie.
Finally, one day the woman said to me, “You two are a couple, yes?”
I was surprised she’d said this out of the blue, and it made me a little nervous. I knew this woman hadn’t traveled much, and I suspected she didn’t know many out gay people.
But I nodded and said, “Yes. We’ve been together twenty-five years now.”
“He is very loving,” she said. “You are very lucky. You are both loving to each other.”
At that, I couldn’t help but blush. I wasn’t so sure about my always being loving to Michael, but I could absolutely agree with the other part.
And so I laughed and said that. “Well, you’re definitely right about Michael.”
She shook her head. “No. I watch, and I see. You are one of the best couples I’ve ever met.”
I loved that she’d been observing us and had come to such a nice conclusion. Now, more than anything, I felt seen. “Well, thank you very much. That’s one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to us.”
“I am just saying the truth.”
It was another one of those elusive but wonderful travel connections. And if I wasn’t gay — and if Michael wasn’t such a thoughtful person — it might never have happened at all.
Brent Hartinger is a screenwriter and author, and one half of Brent and Michael Are Going Places, a couple of traveling gay digital nomads. Subscribe to their free travel newsletter here.
The International LGBTQ+ Travel Association and the IGLTA Foundation celebrate transgender and gender-expansive people, in all their diversity, for their empowering contributions to societies across the planet. We strive to eradicate the discrimination that still prevents many gender-diverse individuals from living openly and fully as their authentic selves.
“We are very aware of underrepresentation in travel, whether it’s overall marketing that fails to include transgender and gender-diverse travelers or lack of visibility in our business network,” said IGLTA President/CEO John Tanzella. “We need to develop more inclusive resources to help tourism professionals better understand the needs of transgender and gender-expansive clients.”
“There are so many safety issues and concerns specific to transgender and gender-diverse travelers that need to receive more attention globally, and we want to ensure that the tool kit we develop is informed by those we wish to serve,” said IGLTA Foundation Board Chair Theresa Belpulsi.
Please join us in elevating trans and gender-expansive people today, Transgender Day of Visibility, and every day. If you’re interested in joining this group or would like to refer a new member, please email info@igltafoundation.org.
The International LGBTQ+ Travel Association is the global leader in advancing LGBTQ+ travel and a proud Affiliate Member of the United Nations World Tourism Organization. IGLTA’s mission is to provide information and resources for LGBTQ+ travelers and expand LGBTQ+ tourism globally by demonstrating its significant social and economic impact. The association’s professional network includes 10,000+ LGBTQ+ welcoming accommodations, destinations, service providers, travel agents, tour operators, events and travel media, and its members can be found in nearly 80 countries. The philanthropic IGLTA Foundation empowers LGBTQ+ welcoming travel businesses globally through leadership, research, and education. For more information: iglta.org, igltaconvention.org or iglta.org/foundation and follow us on Facebook @IGLTA, @IGLTABusiness or @IGLTAFoundation, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram @iglta
A new queer festival, LGBT+ Music Festival, is launching in Porto, Portugal this summer.
The three-day music event will take place between 1-3 July across four stages in the city.
Porto will host 35,000 festival goers, with music, DJs, drag and more on the lineup of the inclusive festival.
The lineup features Iggy Azalea, Bebe Rexha, Melanie C, Drag Race UK’sBimini Bon Boulash and Jodie Harsh to name a few.
The festival has also teamed up with local clubs, bars, restaurants and hotels in Porto to create a “unique and inclusive experience”.
As well as live music there’s also afterparties, boat parties that dock at the main stage venue, pool parties and helicopter rides over the ocean.
“This will be a festival that remembers the past, celebrates the present and prepares for the future. Bringing people from all over the world together, it will create a truly safe space for everyone who knows and understands that music is an act of liberation,” says Diogo Vieria da Silva, executive director of Variações for Portugal’s LGBTI Commerce and Tourism Association.
“Combining inclusion with fun, the festival will help the city of Porto and local organizations to raise their support for LGBT+ people and will be the epicentre of the celebration of equality values. It will give a stage to LGBT+ artists and their allies, whilst elevating national artists to new heights,” they add.
You can find out the full lineup, ticket info and more below for LGBT+ Music Festival.
This article contains affiliate links, PinkNews may earn revenue if you click through and purchase products through the links.
Festival tickets are now available to buy from festicket.com.
There’s a number of different passes you can buy for LGBT+ Music Festival and we’ve broke them down below.
Day ticket – £56.84
Weekend ticket – £122.07
Day ticket plus pass – £64.30
Weekend ticket plus pass – £154.70
VIP day ticket – £101.58
VIP weekend ticket – £246.02
Platinum day ticket – £179.86
Platinum weekend ticket – £432.40
Plus a payment scheme is also available for each ticket type, so you can spread the cost of your ticket across a number of months.
Where is LGBT+ Music Festival?
The official website says the festival’s main site is located at the Douro river bank in Porto, Portual in the Alfândega do Porto.
“The other venues will mostly be at walking distance,” they add.
Where to stay in Porto
Whether it’s a hotel, apartment or hostel you’re after, there’s plenty of spots to stay in Porto. We’ve put together a handful of hotels you can book for the LGBT+ Music Festival.
It’s easy to get swept away by Key West’s charm. Walk down Historic Old Town roads lined with picturesque conch-style houses, and you’ll stumble upon the stomping grounds of Tennessee Williams, Elizabeth Bishop, Leonard Bernstein, just to name a few.
Key West has long been known as a place where queer people can enjoy a peaceful vacation as their authentic selves. This is why more than 300,000 LGBTQ visitors flock to the island each year. With annual events like Fantasy Fest and Womenfest, it’s not hard to see why. It has become one of the most popular destinations for the “L” in LGBTQ.
Mayor Teri Johnston at sea.
At the helm of this ship is Teri Johnston, Florida’s very first openly lesbian mayor. Teri tells GayCities that it is the “one human family spirit” that draws folks in. “We are one big accepting, diverse family,” she explains. “We argue, disagree, laugh, cajole but at the end of the day, we are there for each other, as well as any guest to our island who wants to contribute and join this big loud family. The Conch Republic lives on stronger than ever.”
Off the clock, Teri enjoys the laidback vibes this island offers. “I love to sit on my front porch on Stump Lane with my partner, two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels in my lap, and Lily cat ruling the house. R&R is on the golf course or reading at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park under the Australian Pine. Biking around Key West is a fun way to see all that our community has to offer– from our historical wood frame district to our bustling nightlife of Duval.”
Key West’s world-famous Duval Street is the epicenter of life on the island. While Duval has a reputation for catering to a gay male crowd, the nightlife scene welcomes all. When asked where can lesbians feel most comfortable in town, Teri replies, “Anywhere and everywhere. We are a progressive community with a woman mayor and city manager and many, many incredible women heading up important organizations and nonprofits.”
On that note, here are a few of our favorite LGBTQ-friendly, female-focused spots on the island for your enjoyment.
Alexander’s pool during Womenfest. via Alexander’s Guesthouse
Originally built in the early 1900s and renovated in 1981, this gay-owned, LGBTQ-exclusive guesthouse maintains its Old Town charm on the outside with a contemporary Key West atmosphere on the inside.
Owned and operated by a loving lesbian couple, 22&Co is one of Key West’s most inclusive (and most glitter-filled) bars. With decor reminiscent of a fuzzy Lisa Frank poster and creative martinis to match, you’re sure to have a fun night and get some cute pics for the ‘gram. Tutus included.
This oceanside outpost lives up to its name with delicious seafood, American classics, and friendly service. A big plus, this business identifies as women-owned. A stone’s throw from Alexander’s Guesthouse, this bar and grill is a great spot for a quick bite or dinner with friends.
More than just a movie theater, this volunteer-run cultural hub curates a selection of indie flicks and mainstream classics along with concerts, lectures, and unforgettable parties. Their one-of-a-kind, aqua-blue Art Deco marquee is like a beacon for those who long for something more than Hollywood blockbusters.
Mix together a boutique, a wellness cafe, a yoga shala, and you’ll get The Green Pineapple. Its bustling Duval Street location offers eco-friendly apparel for all genders, one-of-a-kind gifts, and accessories. The cafe is a great place to grab plant-based, gluten-free bites, juices, and smoothies throughout the day. It also hosts a daily happy hour with a worldly selection of organic, biodynamic, and sustainable wines.
Ashley and Oksana. Smiling faces serving in the 801 Cabaret. Photo via 801 Bourbon Bar Facebook
Home to Sushi the Drag Queen and the 801 Girls, this happening Duval Street watering hole hosts a full calendar of events, including live entertainment, bingo, and karaoke nights. Try one of their specialty cocktails or catch a show at the 801 Cabaret above the bar, the girls perform nightly. On New Year’s Eve, this bar hosts the Key West Shoe Drop, a sight to behold.
Argentina, a traditionally conservative country, has emerged in the last two decades as a Queer Rights powerhouse. Since the early 2000s this country has legalized egalitarian marriage and introduced non-binary IDs, state-paid gender-affirming surgeries and IVF treatments. So how did this transformation come about in such a short time, you might ask? Join the first ever Argentine Queer History Tour and find out!
Lunfarda Travel, a boutique incoming agency based in Buenos Aires, launched the first – and so far only! – tour about the history of the Argentine LGBTQIA+ community, from pre-colonial times into the massive Pride demonstrations of 2021.
The tour was created by the founder of the agency, Mariana Radisic Koliren who said: “it feels like all LGBT+ tour products in Argentina are way too focused on the G. What about all the lesbians, trans people and non-binary activists? Our Queer history is so rich, fascinating and intersectional. It’s a story of resilience and pride and it has literally transformed our lives: it needs to be out there to inspire people around the world”
The tour starts at Plaza de Mayo, the foundational block of the city, where a member of the local community explains how different indigenous peoples understood gender and sexual orientation, and how all of that was erased to favor cis-heteronormativity after the Spanish Conquista. That same square would eventually become the gathering spot for Pride demonstrations, attended by hundreds of thousands.
Throughout the tour, you’ll explore the periods, landmarks, characters and events that forged Argentina’s current reality. Enjoy unique points of view, like the role of Evita Peron in the acceptance of Queerness, visit the first subway station to commemorate a Gay Rights activist and get the chills at the National Congress, the place where our community cemented our rights for future generations. In this tour, you’ll also get to visit a community center to have drinks, make new friends and check out some of the cool artwork and culture led by local porteñes.
This tour is about helping create a better future for our community, too. Despite all our strides, there are still lots of people who struggle to have long and fulfilling lives, which is why 10% of the profits of this tour are donated to Mocha Celis, a high school that caters specifically to trans and gender non-conforming students (you can donate to them here, which is always immensely appreciated!).
Thanks to generations of gritty, perseverant activism, our Queer community is increasingly thriving. This tour is a way of acknowledging and recognizing all the people who were trailblazers, and a way of showing all that’s yet to come for our community as this new generation takes up the baton.
Lunfarda Travel specializes in shedding light on the previously untold stories of Buenos Aires through an intersectional scope. The boutique incoming agency is proudly made of over 75% of women, POC and members of the LGBTIAQ+ community, and has a commitment to fair trade wages and environment preservation. Join Lunfarda Travel for the only tours in the city of Black History or on its Jewish Heritage Walks, Graffiti and Foodie Outings and family friendly tours. The agency also organizes tailor made itineraries across Argentina, and actively welcomes all human beings
A gay cruise company has described a New York Times story which questioned whether 2,000 gays would be safe on a boat during COVID as “homophobic” and “sensationalised”.
This week a New York Times article was published which looked at the safety of an upcoming cruise by LGBT+ tour operator Atlantis Events, which will carry almost 5,000 passengers.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is carefully monitoring cruise ships as Omicron cases continue to spread.
The story interviewed various prospective gay cruise passengers, with some expressing the desire to sell their tickets for fear of catching COVID, and others looking forward to “dirty dancing, sex, drugs, raves, orgies and sweet, sweet freedom”.
The newspaper also referenced the Celebrity Millennium cruise ship, which LGBT+ cruise company VACAYA has chartered this week for a seven-night Caribbean cruise, and said that prospective Atlantis Events passengers would be “watching closely” to see how the trip panned out.
The New York Times noted that the Millennium, which carries more than 2,000 people, had been flagged by the CDC as having “met the investigation threshold for COVID-19 cases” on board.https:
VACAYA has now hit out at the newspaper, calling the article “homophobic”.
VACAYA co-founder and CEO Randle Roper told Seatrade Cruise News: “The venerated Times, whose article quoted several people not even travelling on either cruise, did not live up to the journalistic integrity we expect and was an affront to Atlantis Events, LGBT+ travel companies in general and the gay community.”
Referencing the New York Times’ slogan, he added: “This certainly wasn’t news ‘fit to print’.”
Roper continued: “As we begin to come out of the pandemic, it’s OK to ask questions about how, why and when we’ll return to normal, but the Timescompletely missed the story here.
“Their decision to focus on errant quotes taken from various social media pages to sensationalize the story was both a misfire and — let’s hope unintentionally — homophobic.
“The focus should have been on the positive steps being taken by travel companies to adapt to live in a new world of testing, screening and exposure reduction through contact tracing, upgraded onboard medical facilities and staff, and improved guest stateroom ventilation.”
Roper said that passengers were vaccinated, most had received a booster, and all were tested.
PinkNews contacted The New York Times for comment.
