More and more travel companies are now starting to cater to the LGBTQ+ market, with some holiday companies offering specific gay luxury holiday travel. If you are gay, you may be wondering whether gay luxury travel is worth it.
The truth is that it depends on who you are. If you are looking to make more friends, or potentially find a partner, then gay luxury holiday travel may be for you. It may even be perfect if you want to let somebody else do the planning. If you are a fan of planning your own vacations, then it may not necessarily be the right choice.
On this page, we’re going to weigh up the pros and cons of gay luxury holiday travel to help determine what the best choice for you is.
Pride Flight
What Is Gay Luxury Holiday Travel?
The actual definition of gay luxury holiday travel will likely depend on the vacation company you’re working with.
Most of the time, gay luxury holiday travel is about heading to major gay resorts around the world. It is about getting to socialize and vacation with like-minded people in a safe environment. There may be specific activities for those at the resorts, excursions planned, etc.
In other cases, gay luxury travel is about heading on a full-blown holiday package. Here, absolutely everything will be planned out for you. It is the ultimate adventure and requires very little thinking on your part. You just pay the cash, and the gay luxury holiday travel company will do the rest for you. It’s quite simple!
Other companies (normally the most luxurious and expensive ones) will listen to your travel needs and plan a trip around them. This is for when you know you want to travel somewhere in particular, but planning is not your strong suit (or you don’t have a whole lot of time to plan).
Honestly, the definition that you use doesn’t matter too much. At the end of the day, they both involve luxury travel designed specifically for gay people.
The Pros of Gay Luxury Holiday Travel
Let’s start with the reasons why gay luxury holiday travel may be for you. Although to be honest, since you are already reading this page, chances are that it is probably right for you anyway.
Head to Proper Gay Resorts
Most gay luxury holiday travel companies will have you heading to proper gay resorts. In fact, many luxury holiday companies will have you specifically staying at resorts filled with gay people.
We know that one of the major issues people often have with heading to a new area is the worry about whether their sexuality will be accepted by the general population. This isn’t really a major issue with gay luxury travel companies. They will always be welcoming about your sexuality, and they will ensure that you only stay at safe resorts. This even applies to resorts in countries that are normally quite homophobic. In fact, while the Maldives (for example) has many anti-gay laws, some top gay luxury travel companies still head there due to their close relationship with pro-gay resorts.
Because these resorts are very welcoming to the gay community (and it is where they get most of their business), there will often be events targeted at the LGBTQ+ community, so you’ll often find that there is a lot more to do.
Meet New Friends
When the gay luxury holiday travel company plans your vacation, they’ll often be placing you in groups with other gay people (or at the very least, LGBTQ+ members). This can make it incredibly easy to make friends.
If you plan your luxury travel yourself, you’ll often have to take the time to hunt down like-minded people, or at least know where to go (which means reading countless guidebooks and carrying out tons of Google searches). These luxury travel companies will just make it easier to make friends, some of which may last a lifetime.
Because of this, single gay people may often benefit from traveling with a gay luxury holiday travel company. We have heard many stories of people finding their life partner on one of these trips.
San Francisco Pride Diversity
Ensure Your Holiday Covers the ‘Best’ Parts of An Area
Heading to a new area? Chances are that you’ll spend ages and ages reading through Google searches and guidebooks. It is incredibly boring. Honestly, even if you love the whole planning thing, you’ll eventually reach a breaking point.
A luxury holiday travel company will ensure that your trip will cover the best parts of an area. They’ll ensure that you’re staying in the right places, and either take you to the top destinations or provide recommendations for you.
In our experience, when you have somebody else do the planning for your vacation, you get a much more ‘complete’ holiday. We find that this makes these trips worth it. After all, we want to cover as much of a destination as we possibly can!
Requires Minimal Planning
Gay luxury travel will require minimal planning. This is fantastic if you hate planning, or you simply do not have the time to plan a massive getaway.
What a company provides can vary. However, they’ll often plan your hotel and flights for you. You may even have food and excursions included.
Honestly, with the right company, you could have your entire vacation planned out in just a couple of minutes…and often for not much more than it would cost to plan everything yourself. You’ll be saving a ton of time!
You Can Have a Hand-Crafted Trip (Sometimes)
This isn’t something that applies to all companies. Some have incredibly fixed itineraries (these are often the cheapest companies). However, if you have a bit of cash to spend, some will help you to plan your dream holiday, and it will require minimal effort on your part.
Gay luxury holiday travel companies will often have connections around the world or at least knowledge of some of the top gay destinations. So, they’ll know how to plan your trip in the best possible way.
Some of these companies can help you to plan a honeymoon, wedding, or a general group trip.
Of course, this reduces the stress of planning on your part. It also means that you can benefit from the knowledge of the travel company.
The Cons of Gay Luxury Holiday Travel
While we do believe that gay luxury holiday travel is worth it, you should bear in mind that there are a few downsides to traveling like this. Nothing major, but it can be a bit more expensive and you could potentially lose a bit of control over your vacation.
It Costs a Little More
With gay luxury holiday travel, you’ll often have somebody planning the trip for you. This can push the price up ever so slightly. However, since this is luxury travel, we are sure that you are going to be fine with the extra expense.
In our opinion, this isn’t a massive con. As we said, you’ll expect a luxury holiday to be a little bit more expensive anyway. However, you have to remember the old adage ‘time is money’. Planning a vacation as extensive as a gay luxury holiday travel company would plan is difficult. It could take days if not weeks. Most gay luxury travel companies have fixed itineraries in place, allowing them to plan your trip in minutes.
You Have Less Control Over Your Holiday
This doesn’t apply to all travel companies. However, you do have to bear in mind that if you are hiring somebody to plan your trip for you, you’ll lose a bit of control over your vacation. This is especially true if you have a fixed itinerary trip where you don’t really have the opportunity to head off the beaten track.
So, if you’re the type of person who loves to plan every aspect of the trip, then gay luxury holiday travel may not be for you. The one exception may be if you opt to work with a company that can offer you a personalized trip. They may cost a bit more, but at least you’ll end up with the vacation of your dreams with minimal headaches.
Gay Luxury Holiday Travel – Is It For You?
In our opinion, if you are looking for the ultimate gay travel experience, then gay luxury holiday travel is for you. You’ll have to find the right company to plan your trip. But, when you do, you’ll end up with an amazing trip where you can stay at some of the top gay destinations, be safe, make some friends, and save a lot of time and effort on the planning front.
Gay luxury holiday travel may not be for you if you are really budgeting your cash, or if you love the whole planning experience. However, we do suggest that you check out what a gay luxury holiday travel company provides. A lot of people do, and they realize that even if they enjoy the whole planning thing, they end up with a far better vacation when they put the planning in the hands of an expert.
Hello, my name is Gay Worlley - no, really - and I love learning about all things queer. I am also a qualified gardener and enjoy traveling in my spare time.
I love sharing my travel stories with anyone who will listen, and now I want to share them with the world through my new website! Not only that, but I want to inspire others and teach you about LGBTQ+ travel, queer media, pride, and much more.
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