New York, Hawaii, Canada Victorious in LGBT Travel Survey

A study of LGBT travel trends found that gay folks prefer New York City and Canada as national and international destinations, respectively.

The culture and excitement of New York outweighed LGBT travelers' desire for sun, sand, and relaxation; New York has been a top American draw for years, for both straight and gay travelers. Chicago and San Francisco tied for second-favorite U.S. destination, with Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. also rating well among the 3,100 respondents of the Community Marketing survey (Las Vegas won the Out Traveler award for favorite American city, while Sweden won for best international destination).

It might have been proximity, or the lure of glamorous cities like Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, that had Canada pull ahead of England, France, Mexico, and Spain as the favorite international destination. For honeymoons, Hawaii — which legalized marriage equality in 2013 — was the narrow winner.

All in all, LGBT leisure travel was up 5 percent last year compared to 2012, though LGBT business travel continued to drop. Hilton and Kimpton were named as hotel chains worthy of praise for their LGBT-supportive marketing and programming. Survey respondents also noted the importance of hotels offering free WiFi to their customers.

Click here for the full survey.