Barcelona wins prestigious award as best gay tourism destination

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Gay Pride Barcelona

Barcelona has won a highly-rated title as the best gay tourism destination outside the United States in this year’s Gay Travel Awards, as recognition of its work in promoting LGBT tourism.

The Gay Travel Awards are widely regarded as the most important awards given to global LGBT tourism initiatives and have been called the Oscars of gay tourism by the Wall Street Journal. Every year they give out their awards to destinations that have made it through their first filter into the finals of the competition and shown themselves to be the best of the best in their categories.

Thousands are present in the first round and are then filtered into hundreds of finalists. Nominees are chosen based on audience recommendations on GayTravel.com and GayTravelAwards.com. Different editors, experts and tens of thousands of public voters have then selected 34 winners in 33 different categories. According to the director of Turisme de Barcelona, Marian Muro, “Barcelona is proud to have been chosen as the non-American destination that best promotes and supports LGBT + tourism. An award that, in short, recognizes the city’s open spirit, inclusiveness and hospitality.”


The award has come after a long programme by Turisme de Barcelona, aiming to define the city as a benchmark in the defence of diversity and the rights of LGBT people. This year alone they have organised several actions to continue promoting the best gay tourism in the city. La Vanguardia reports that the consortium participates in different forums and competitions such as Pride or the IGLTA (International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association) Convention, which is held annually in different cities around the world and brings together agents and suppliers specialized in this sector from more than 80 countries.

As well as working to make Barcelona a welcoming place, the award can help with the economy of the area also. According to an IGLTA study, LGBT people travel three times more than heterosexuals, with a longer stay at the destination and an average spend that is three times higher. Spain receives six million tourists from the LGBT + group who spend proportionally 40% more than the rest.