New York City Announces Gay Travel Initiative

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City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and NYC & Company CEO George Fertitta today announced New York city's first-ever integrated marketing and communications campaign to promote gay travel to the Big Apple, a yearlong initiative to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. Through an international and domestic print, outdoor, web, and communications campaign, the Rainbow Pilgrimage will showcase New York City’s vibrancy while highlighting its reputation as a gay- and lesbian-friendly travel destination.

Through a relationship with Travelocity, Rainbow Pilgrimage travel packages, bookable at nycgo.com/gay, will be available for the LGBT community to book trips to New York City throughout the year. The announcement took place at NYC & Company’s Official NYC Information Center in Midtown Manhattan.

To help more gay travelers plan their visit to New York City, nycgo.com/gay, a new microsite, featuring original editorial content and a comprehensive five-borough LGBT Calendar of Events, was unveiled today. Additional elements of the new site include listings of must-see gay landmarks in New York City and gay-friendly spring cultural highlights. A cornerstone event of the year will be the NYC Pride celebration, taking place June 20-28. The annual celebration marks the June 27 anniversary date of the 1969 Stonewall Riots.

In addition to domestic travel packages, bookable on nycgo.com/gay through Travelocity, lastminute.com will power packages for travelers from the UK, as will Viva Tours, for travelers from Spain.

New York City is the most-visited U.S. destination for gay leisure travel, capturing a 24 percent share, according to San Francisco-based Community Marketing, Inc. The City is also the number-one destination for gay and lesbian business travel, making it the primary destination for the LGBT community in the U.S.

The Rainbow Pilgrimage campaign was created in collaboration with NYC & Company’s creative agency of record, Bartle Bogle Hegarty.