Leave It All Behind

No one’s going to be sorry to see the back of 2020, and hopes are on a new dawn come January with the chance to get away from it all. Jaq Bayles goes on a journey of discovery for LGBTQ+ dream destinations

This year anyone whose travel plans went ahead smoothly will have been in the minority. With flights grounded during lockdown and the pandemic leading the government to constantly and seemingly randomly change rules around which countries were ‘safe’ to visit once lockdown was lifted, the overseas holiday market has been hammered.

Anyone who managed to get away was sunbathing under a cloud of uncertainty about whether they would need to drop their flip flops and return home at a moment’s notice if they were to avoid two weeks of self-isolation – the situation hardly made for a relaxing break.

Little surprise, then, that many turned to the UK staycation, swapping ouzo and calamari in Lesvos for beer and chips in Littlehampton, ditching the pelicans of Mykonos in favour of the gulls of Margate, and replacing hiking in Tuscany with a stroll around Truro.

Alliteration allusions aside, it turned out that many people suddenly woke up to the fact that Britain actually has an awful lot to offer, and some experts predict that a new mindset around holidays is not going to go away.

Host Unusual specialises in unique properties for holiday stays and has a web page dedicated solely to the many that are designated LGBTQ-friendly. Brighton-based co-founder and director Alex Wilson says this was to ensure no one experienced the sort of “frosty reception” he and his partner had encountered at check-ins in some parts of the world, and he adds there has been “a massive rise” in searches for UK properties.

Everyone’s switched focus to staycations and realised there’s a lot more they can do at home. With the situation changing so frequently they are worried about going overseas. There are unique things people can do at home, like stay in a WWII operations bunker or in a prison-themed room. This is going to cause a permanent change in people’s mindset. People are a lot more sensitive to reducing their carbon footprint and are a lot more vocal about it now. I do see it as more of a permanent trend.

And, with necessity being the mother of invention and all that, there has been an incremental increase in ever-more quirky places in which to take your staycation – hobbit homes, treehouses, a tent suspended 2,000ft above a valley – and the list goes on.

But for many, even the promise of a pyjama party in a stable, lulled to sleep by the gentle snorting of their own equine companion, will never top the desire to go exotic, to discover new countries and to be in a place that is open-armed to the LGBTQ+ community.

The aforementioned Lesvos and Mykonos immediately spring to mind, as of course does Sitges, but many countries have cottoned on to the benefits of embracing us, to which Darren Burn, group CEO of Brighton and London-based LGBTQ+ travel specialist Out of Office, attests.

“There are countless tourist boards internationally that recognise [the worth] of LGBTQ+ tourists,” he says. “They have 23% more disposable income, and provide word of mouth referrals to friends. Tourist boards are investing in that, marketing to us, looking at how they welcome us. After 9-11 the LGBTQ+ community was first to start travelling again.

Lesvos

“A lot of countries recognise that when travel bounces back LGBTQ+ will be one of the first. There are double incomes, often no kids and we travel more as a community and take more trips per year than our heterosexual counterparts. Lots of countries are doing it from a selfish economic standpoint, others will be doing it because it’s good for them – good for business and the right thing to do.”

He cites Malta as a country that has really shown commitment to recognising equal rights for LGBTQ+ people. “Malta used to be pretty low down on the ILGA list [which ranks 49 countries in Europe on their legal situation for LGBTQ+ people]. It’s now number one in terms of being LGBTQ+ friendly. It has invested in making same-sex marriage legal and taking gender off passports – it is marketing to our community and other places are following suit.”

Malta

And he makes the point that countries currently upholding LGBTQ-unfriendly laws will likely continue to do so unless they are challenged. “Take the Maldives. Some people say ‘why would I support the economy where it’s illegal to be gay?’ But if we don’t travel to them it will never change. In the Maldives there are plenty of LGBTQ+ employees and I know because I’ve met them.”

Over in the equally breath-taking Seychelles, it is legal to partake of homosexual activity, and Darren says there are some incredible deals to be had on flights to that particular destination right now, although that’s likely to change come the new year, with January being one of the biggest booking months of the year.

People want relaxation and to switch off. We are definitely seeing much more beachy holidays, relaxation rather than adventure tourism like Machu Pichu or Vietnam. People are looking at R&R because they’ve had such a crap time. Wellbeing will be even bigger. People are working from home so much they need a change of scenery. In French Polynesia it’s fully legal to be LGBTQ+ but it’s a long way away.

Much closer to home is Halifax, put firmly on the global lesbian travel map by Sally Wainwright’s BBC series Gentleman Jack, charting the real-life adventures of Anne Lister, whose portrayal by Suranne Jones trembled many a dyke’s knees.

Halifax, UK

No surprise then that Gentleman Jack tours, set up by Diva Destinations, attracted huge amounts of attention, particularly from the States, the Americans being big lovers of costume dramas and, it would seem, striking lesbian lead characters.

Jen Grant, the Hastings-based founder of the company – one of only two lesbianspecific travel firms in the world, the other being Olivia in America – says there are big differences between what lesbians seek from a group holiday and what gay men expect.

Lesbians want that experiential aspect, the cultural aspect. They’re not interested in sitting on a beach – that’s a very cruising element of the gay male community.

But lesbians aren’t averse to fitting into a stereotype either when it comes to holidays.

Another winner is a ranch getaway – horses, Stetsons, more leather accessories than you can shake a riding crop at, plus campfires and giant Saguaro cacti, all in the dry heat of the desert. Seriously, lesbians have an enduring affinity with the wild west, likely fuelled by movies such as Calamity Jane, the titular tomboy character played by Doris Day – possibly one of the most unlikely women ever to play a lesbian icon – and Desert Hearts, the very raunchy for its day film adaptation (there were men in raincoats at the cinema screening I went to) of Jane Rule’s book Desert of the Heart.

San Luis, USA

Jen says there’s a safety element when it comes to lesbian group holidays and when she started the business in 2013 it quickly became clear that many of the women contacting her were more mature and single and wanted to meet people in a relaxed way. “We wanted that element that they felt safe but it’s not in any way dating. It’s literally bringing women together on a hosted group.

“Women want companionship but they don’t want to go on a straight group holiday because of the men.

“Everyone is chomping at the bit to get away,” she says, adding: “Apparently Easyjet bookings suddenly soared when they heard about the vaccine. That will definitely make travel easier and safer.”

But coronavirus is not the only cloud hanging over the travel industry right now – the UK has left the European Union and many sectors will face new rules from January 1. It’s currently looking not impossible that we will crash out with no deal, so what might that mean for European travel? Darren says Brexit will have legal ramifications around ATOL and there will be a lot of technical things for airlines to deal with, but thinks there will be a reciprocal agreement. And he also points out that many European countries rely on British travellers.

Consumer confidence is shot right now in every industry and sector. The focus early next year has to be on giving people confidence and knowing that options are available.

In the meantime, dream of French Polynesia, or horses, or cruising – whatever floats your boat.

More info

www.outofoffice.com

www.divadestinations.co.uk

www.hostunusual.com