In celebration of the Pride Month, we have put together a Boston pride event for our LGBTQ community to experience the most personalized and unique celebration with the special Preferred Pride offering, as a part of the Preferred Hotel Group’s Preferred Pride collection. Express yourself in style with our chilled house sparkling wine and chocolate covered strawberries to enhance your special event!
Boston is sharing love with rainbow lights and invites everyone to join the Boston Pride Illumination in celebration of love, dignity, equality, and self-affirmation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.
In celebration of hospitality week and Pride month, we are honored to share the gay travel story from our partners, Gay Travel, the all-time favorite resource of gay travel trends & exclusive offers that have been in the business for over two decades. Victoria from Gay Travel shares that Pride Month for Gay Travel is an important time to recognize and celebrate the gay* community, but at GayTravel.com, we celebrate Pride 365!
Last year in June 2020, with hundreds of Pride Parades and Events canceled, GayTravel.com made lemonade out of lemons, as our staff dedicated their time to hosting the first Virtual Pride. We celebrated by joining 28 Pride Organizations from across the nation on June 28th, which was the 50th Anniversary of the first pride march. Since people couldn’t gather physically, utilizing our platform as a digital megaphone was our way of giving back to our community. We expected the event to be successful, but it surpassed our wildest hopes when it trended on Twitter with over 14 million impressions within just a few hours! What was even more gratifying was the response we received from Virtual Pride participants worldwide. We learned that our Virtual Pride was not only a historic first — but for those with handicaps, for those who didn’t feel comfortable attending a pride event in person but who felt comfortable doing so from the privacy of their homes, and for those organizations that typically didn’t get as much attention as the big pride events — it was significant!
When asked about exciting and new trends, our partners at Gay Travel shared that traveling safely is the extended trend with a dash of a “carpe diem” attitude!
Other trends Gay Travel sees is a preference to visit destinations within driving distance. “Outdoor vacations,” where travelers are connecting with nature, are also very popular. In big cities like Boston, travelers are taking advantage of walking. What could be better than a summer stroll along the exquisite streets of Beacon Hill?
Numerous studies and polls indicate that the gay community has a pent-up desire to travel, and now with things gradually opening up to travel safely, they will be among the first to shout from the rooftops, “Let’s get OUT there!“
Also, gay travelers are consistently among the most resilient and willing to travel even during uncertain times. Whenever times are tough, gay travelers pull together much in the spirit of #bostonstrong!
That’s why at GayTravel.com, we are especially pleased to announce a special giveaway in honor of 2021 June Pride Month and hosted by our “Let’s get out there!” partners, ROAM Luggage, XV Beacon, a GayTravel Approved® Luxury hotel, Fox Rent a Car, and MËNAJI Advanced Men’s Skincare.
One lucky winner will receive a 3-night stay at XV Beacon, ROAM Jaunt Luggage, a travel kit from MËNAJI Advanced Men’s Skincare, and two $150 gift certificates from Fox Rent a Car.
ENTER HERE: https://roamluggage.com/pages/gay-travel-june-giveaway
Mentioning about the travel experiences and activities, Victoria shares that safety is at the top of everyone’s mind, and travelers want to know that precautions are being taken to help ensure their well-being. This includes virus-related safety as well as knowing that they can outwardly and demonstrably be themselves.
Simple conveniences like plentiful power outlets located in close proximity to where they can use their devices like laptops, tablets, and cell phones can be easily accessed while pugged in are appreciated. Thoughtful touches like “hers and hers” robes go a long way towards engendering loyalty.
A knowledgeable concierge with a familiarity of the local gay scene, including the gay-welcoming, restaurants, bars, theaters, museums, and other attractions, is appreciated. Also, knowing where the safe and unsafe neighborhoods are demarcated is a huge help.
With many still working remotely, business amenities are of the utmost importance! Working from a beautiful hotel is a welcome respite for many.
Diversity and inclusion are more important than ever before to gay travelers and their allies. Younger generations, corporations, and their business travelers, expect hospitality providers to implement policies that foster a welcoming and inclusive environment. Those that embrace this mantra will continue to benefit from the loyalty of the gay community and their allies.
We expect our travelers to continue to lead the way, not just in the amenities they prefer but also to serve as the tastemakers and influencers of their generations.
For gay travelers and like-minded hospitality providers, the future is bright. We optimistically believe people will become more tolerant, empathetic, and understanding of themselves and each other in the future. We anticipate many new friendships and alliances will be formed, and old ones will be strengthened. We know that travel experiences will continue to inspire and that the sharing of travel stories will be a means to pass along valuable lessons, and as a result, our world will become a better place!
*It’s important to note that the word “gay” is an umbrella term used to refer to all people who have a non-normative gender identity or sexual orientation, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer or questioning, and asexual, but not abbreviated as a means to exclude any of the aforementioned or other identities.
