EGOTOUR Blog

As of today, the Egotour message center is available to registered Egotour members. Through the message center Egotour members can send messages to other friends and members on Egotour, similar as in favourite chat community like gaydar.co.uk or gayromeo.com. This is a great opportunity to hook up with authors, find new travel mates for your next trip and friends on Egotour. Through the extended profile on MyEgotour you can tell others whether you are interested in new travel stories or finding travel partners. Other members can contact you securely through the Egotour Message Center. Together with our selection of gay friendly hotels, travel tips, this is a great tool to find your perfect travel mate and plan your next holidy.

The message center is easy to use, secure to use and private. No exposure of your private email address is required, so you there is no extra spam in your email inbox. Sign up today and get connected.

While only a few years back, CO2 was something for chemistry cracks, topics like CO2 emissions and climate change have entered its way even to schools classes. Strategies for saving fossil fuels, reducing emissions and approaches to combat climate change are manifold and controversly discussed . Have a look at Alex and Christine’s Climate Change Project and read about how everyone of us can contribute.

As air travel is a major contributor to CO2 emissions, climate change and CO2 concious travel are discussed conversely. Share your thoughts on this issue and whether climate change impacts your travel behaviour or whether you consider this just a marketing tool.

Today, we have added new features for www.egotour.eu

• Gay Map - We have added Maps for the hotel search results, to make it easier to find the places where to stay in a city
• City Guide - Starting with Amsterdam and Madrid, we have added City Guides to give you a brief overview about where to stay and what to do
• Where to go - Now you can access the list of sightseeing venues, bars and restaurants directly from the hotel search results to make it easier for you to plan your city trip. Check the site for regular updates and more cities to come.

Numerous clichées occur when you are thinkig about Switzerland: cuckoo clock, cheese, alpine huts and tradition. But in contrast Switzerland has often been nominated the best place in the world to stay, and this is mainly true for its lively gay community. Surprisingly, Swiss cities come along with a stylish, eclectic, professional and sometimes anarchic character.

So, Basel perched on the border of Switzerland, Fance and Germany may be a small town, but it has the spirit a big city. Even there is only a handful of exclusively gay bars and clubs, there are mixed options for almost every taste.
A chill crowd hangs at Baragraph, a tiny sliver of a space with a slightly retro feel (including absinthe on the menue), while Grenzwert attrcacts cute, young hipsters with a penchant for “fussball”.
Of Basel`s best GLBT-only bars, the best are Elle et Lui (literallay “her and him” in french), a laid back lounge with locals, and Kaserne, woth a look any night of the week, but which hosts a cute Tuesday-night boys`party, Zischbar.

Beyond one`s own nose – art, culture and architecture

From Altstadt (the “Old town”) steep cobblestone streets wind up – to past enough chocolate shops to delight any gourmand – to Nobility Hill. Crossing the river Rhine to Kleinbasel you will find fashionistas revelling in avant-garde boutiques. And through it all runs the artistic heart of Switzerland`s most e´densely packed city of art and architecture.
Basel may be diminutive but it has an extraordinary number of first-rate museums, none more worth visiting than the private collection of Hildy and rnst beyeler, housed in a Renzo Piano-designed masterpiece on the outskirts of town. featuring the likes of Picasso, Rothko, Warhol, Miró alongside African tribal art, the Fondation Beyeler is a moderne art treasure.

Barcelona with its well known gay district Eixample is doubtless one of the most liveley and trendy gay destinations in the Europe. But Eixample is also the birth place of jazz in Catalonia. In September the ensemble Hora del Jazz pays tribute to Tete Montoliu, the most famous catalonian jazz player who was born in the Eixample district and died ten years ago in Barcelona.

The Hora del Jazz festival has become the showcase for jazz in Catalonia. Organised by a musicians’ association, for seventeen years the festival has filled the Plaça de Rius i Taulet, and other venues in the city, with music.

The festival has become the Memorial Tete Montoliu after the death of the pianist, who was president of the organising association. This year it pays homage to the musician from Barcelona, to coincide with the tenth anniversary of his death. His real name was Vicenç Montoliu i Massana. He was born blind, in the Eixample district of Barcelona, and died in the same city.
In the 1960s, Montoliu played in various concerts at New York and established collaborations with Elvin Jones and Richard Davis. During the 1970s, he travelled extensively throughout Europe, consolidating his reputation as a main referent in the Hard Bop movement. During the 1980s, he played in numerous concerts, collaborating with prominent jazz players such as Johnny Griffin, George Coleman, Joe Henderson, Dizzy Gillespie, Chick Corea, Hank Jones, Roy Hargrove, and Jesse Davis, among others.

“He was a man who opened frontiers, who promoted musicians and clubs here”, said Max Sunyer, president of the Catalan Associació de Músics de Jazz i Música Moderna.

All the performances in the Hora del Jazz festival, with around fifteen groups, will include a version of a theme by Tete Montoliu, demonstrating his legacy to jazz.

Jazz evenings

Around two thousand people went to each of the festival concerts in Plaça de Rius i Taulet last year. Starting at midday on Sundays, free, the concerts are open to all, and have become a favourite for those who enjoy live music.

The festival has started in the square in Gràcia on Sunday 2 September with the Iñaki Sandoval Trio and Giulia Valle Group.

The date with live jazz is every Sunday in September, except the last, on 30 September. This is when the festival goes outside the city for the first time, to Vilafranca del Penedès where Big Acoustic Band will be live in Plaça de Sant Joan.

To complement the Hora del Jazz, there will be evening concerts at different venues in the city, at reasonable prices. This year, there will be concerts at the Bel-Luna Jazz Club, the Jamboree, El Foro, Sala Monasterio and Heliogàbal in September.

These concerts include performances by Les Deux Guitares Trio, Dani Pérez Trio, Ximo Tebar & The Champs and Joan Chamorro Quintet & Carme Canela.

Famous for its waltz, its cafes and its classical music, Vienna is pushing for a bigger slice of the lucrative gay tourist trade this summer with its “Queer Guide” to the city.
The 48-page brochure, available free of charge in English, French and Spanish, lists all the capital’s gay-friendly locations, from night clubs to shops, cafes, hotels, saunas, and nudist beaches on the Danube.
Although Austria was named preferred country of destination by participants in Germany’s Gay Pride parade in 2004, Vienna still lags far behind Paris, Berlin or Barcelona in a worldwide ranking of favourite destinations for gays and lesbians.
“Since then, the city has been trying to catch up,” Susanne Langer, director of the “Queer Guide” project, which is in its second year, said.

Culture and Events

“Homosexuals are a very interesting target group. They are generally interested in culture, do not have children and can therefore travel easily, and above all they spend on average a lot more than heterosexuals,” she said.
Gay meeting places have a low profile in Vienna and are not concentrated in one area as in New York or Paris, but the city stages several big events every year: the extravagant AIDS charity Life Ball in May, the Rainbow Parade in June and the Rose Ball in mid-February, a gay party that originated as a rival to Vienna’s traditional ball season.
“Vienna is more liberal than some of the outdated stereotypes would suggest and just because the city has maintained a lot of historic buildings from the past, the people and society are not at all that old-fashioned,” the Queer Guide boasts.

About 10 percent of the capital’s 1.7-million-strong population is gay, according to the Vienna Homosexual Initiative, Austria’s largest gay and lesbian organisation.

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A glittering oasis in the Nevada desert, Las Vegas offers a wide diversity of attractions, from star-studded shows and casinos to excellent dining. The metropolis` open attitude made it a favourite gay destination, too. But gay life is not without contradiction in this big city …

Q: Years ago I always heard that Las Vegas wasn’t a very welcoming place for gay and lesbian travelers. Has that changed?

A: As a matter of fact, yes. Believe it or not, the place is so welcoming and has such a diverse set of offerings that we’ve published the first-of-its-kind guidebook for gay and lesbian visitors, Gay Vegas: A Guide To The Other Side of Sin City. Author Steve Friess, a widely published freelance writer in Las Vegas who has covered gay issues for years for USA Today, Newsweek and others, had this to say:
“At some point about five years ago, the city had an epiphany that gay travelers are loyal, drawn to high-end hospitality, and have loads of disposable income (in part because many have no children, are highly educated and love to travel). So MGM Mirage, Harrah’s, Wynn, the Palms, and Cirque du Soleil all put significant marketing muscle behind promoting their wares in national gay publications, donating and raising large sums for gay causes, and in some cases re-educating their staffs on how not to offend gay guests. I’ve even heard a story of a couple of homophobic thugs being tossed from the Venetian for heckling a flamboyantly gay fellow crap player, and the Venetian owners aren’t known for their liberalism. In addition, the LVCVA, led in its efforts by gay staffers there and at its ad agency R&R Partners, has pursued the market, entering floats in gay-pride parades in New York City. There’s even at least one ‘What Happens Here Stays Here’ ad that can easily be interpreted to be involving a gay man’s little Vegas secret.

Strong marketing muscle

“At the same time, the city’s show, food, shopping, culture, spa, and hotel offerings have all skewed dramatically upscale and gay-inclusive, from shows like Zumanity and The Producers to gay wedding ceremonies in most chapels and couples spa treatments offered at Qua at Caesars and the MGM Grand, among others. In the book, we take a ‘queer eye’ to each of those, examining what may or may not appeal to gay travelers. Harrah’s has done a terrific job, for instance, positioning Paris as its property of great appeal to gays. And Mandalay Bay is often affectionately referred to as ‘Mandalay Gay’ for its friendliness, its notoriously good-looking male lifeguard staff, the gay-subplotted Mamma Mia! and its restaurants. On the other end, it’s not advised for a same-sex couple to hold hands at the NASCAR Cafe, say, without worrying.”

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Making party in great profusion- that`s the motto of the little Tuscanian town Torre del Lago.
But before the season is over the town is celebrating Christmas Time from 21st until 23rd of September. Clubs and restaurants will be engarlanded, the roofs will be “snow-capped” and sweet Christmas music is in the streets. At 29th of September the Winter Party will be thrown.

Torre del Lago - a new beach und party-star like Sitges, Mykonos and Ibiza?

Well, it may as well be. Walking along the promenade or the city centre and discovering lots of gay and lesbian couples walking hand in hand is a visibil result of what Friendly Versilia has been able to do. The Lecciona beach will not only surprise you for its beauty and expansebut also for the huge crowd of gays and lesbians that do gather here every summer. Lots of either gay or gay-friendly B&Bs both in Viareggio and Torre del Lago, campings and many other accomodations.
The promenade of Torre del Lago is packed with restaurants, pubs, disco-pubs and a lot more; The famous italian Mardi Gras is annualy hosted on this beautiful promenade and gathers thousands of members of the GLBT community. Presented by Fabio Canino, hylarious and sharp Radio and Tv star, Mardi Gras is a great occasion to come to visit Torre del Lago and enjoy each night of your stay. Mardi Gras is not the only occasion though, calendar is rich in events from April until end of September.

Friendly Versilia is today able to attract over 100.000 homosexuals both men and women from all Europe in the spring and summer time.

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Individual travel is more popular than ever.
This is especially true for gay friendly travel destinations and hotels.

Often, holiday planning starts with an extensive online research or with consulting friends about their recommendations. Typically, online information regarding gay travel is hard to find, not consistent, outdated or simply not very reliable.

Popular gay destinations like the Florida Keys with their gay friendly guest houses and hotels are often top of the list when choosing a gay holiday package. Florida’s liberal environment, the large number of community events and last but not least a number of bars and places to hang out make this destination so attractive.

But what if you look for a more individual package and what if your interests are beyond bars and clubbing? In that case, booking your mix of a hotel, event or activity online becomes more difficult. Often, the label “gay friendly” is associated with “get ripped off” or “sleasy and cheesy”, rather than with upscale quality. Finding the right hotel in the right location is often a matter of luck.

We would like to know your optionion about:

• How important are such recommendations of gay friendly hotels for you as a gay traveler?
• What kind of information would you like to find online to be useful for you holiday planing?
• Which recommendations and sites do you use today to research your holiday?

Let us know what you think and post your comments.

EGOTOUR - travel your way

Traditionally October has been a slow time for tourism in the Keys, but since its inception, Fantasy Fest® has continually boosted the economy by filling up hotel rooms and inundating local businesses, restaurants, and bars during this time period. The tremendous influx of visitors during the ten days of the festival sustains the local economy until the holiday season begins. Fantasy Fest is committed to extending the time that visitors stay by encouraging the creation of diverse events throughout the entire ten days. The opportunity to show off the imaginative and resourceful spirit that defines the Keys excites participants as well as the thousands that are drawn to the Keys.

Frank Romano, a board member of the Tourist Development Association of Monroe County, Inc. (TDA), and a founding member of Fantasy Fest, gives us a personal introduction into the conception of Fantasy Fest. He shares the early vision of Joe Liszka, President of the TDA, giving us a glimpse of how this good-natured revelry came to be.

In 1978, on Halloween Day, Joe Liszka asked me to accompany him to the intersection of Front and Duval Streets. He asked me to look up Duval Street and tell him what I saw. “What was I supposed to see?” “No cars moving, no people walking, lots of store fronts boarded up because the retailers take their vacation in this slow season?”

“How is the weather,” he asked. “Well, it is a typical beautiful day in Paradise, warm, with bright sunshine.” “That’s what’s wrong,” he told me. ” Here it is the most beautiful weather day of the season and the town is deserted. Workers are laid off. Business owners have a tough time paying their expenses. It is a disaster season for the Key West economy.
“I understand”, I replied, “but what can we do about it?” “We need a fest, a carnival, a celebration, something that will entice people to change our moribund season to one of great fun; a party that will bring many people to understand that this season is one of our best,” he replied.

Liszka’s creative inspiration was the birth of Fantasy Fest. Now, Halloween is the busiest day of the year with thousands of people visiting our town. Fantasy Fest week produces the most revenue of any week in the year. A moribund season has become our best. Thank you, Joseph Liszka.”

Frank Romano
Board Member
The Tourist Development Association of Monroe County, Inc.