When considering gay destinations on the East Coast of the United States, two rise to the top. These are not only the top two destinations on the Atlantic Shore, but they are the pillars of gay travel destinations in the nation and arguably the world. We are of course talking about Fort Lauderdale and Provincetown.
One would think that these two gay meccas would be in competition for your rainbow dollars, trying to get you to compare their hotels, beaches, and nightlife options so you can make that decision to go to MA or FLA. This year, there’s no competition, there’s a clear choice. BOTH.
Visit Lauderdale, the official destination marketing organization for Greater Fort Lauderdale, will participate in a unique partnership with Provincetown, Massachusetts. Visitors to the top of the Cape and residents will be witness to a new and unique campaign.
“As part of the partnership, which started in December 2023, the Provincetown Business Guild (PBG) has welcomed Visit Lauderdale to brand, co-host, and sponsor some of its key LGBT+ events, including Pride, Bear Week and Carnival.”– Stacy Ritter, President & CEO of Visit Lauderdale.
Some of the must-do events in Provincetown in 2024 are:
- Pride – Provincetown’s 7th Annual Pride (May 31 to June 2)
- Bear Week (July 13 to July 20)
- Carnival – The 46th Annual Provincetown Carnival (August 17 to August 24)
Bear Week - Otter Pop Pool Party (credit Robert Bardelmeier)
Bear Week - Otter Pop Pool Party (credit Robert Bardelmeier)
Bear Week - Otter Pop Pool Party (credit Robert Bardelmeier)
Bear Week - Otter Pop Pool Party (credit Robert Bardelmeier)
Bear Week - Otter Pop Pool Party (credit Robert Bardelmeier)
Bear Week - Otter Pop Pool Party (credit Robert Bardelmeier)
Bear Week - Otter Pop Pool Party (credit Robert Bardelmeier)
Bear Week - Otter Pop Pool Party (credit Robert Bardelmeier)
Provincetown attracts over one million annual visitors from the northeast and across the globe. It is one of the largest LGBT+ communities in the country. This exclusive collaboration allows Visit Lauderdale to reach LGBT+ travelers who resonate with Visit Lauderdale’s “Everyone Under the Sun” campaign. Visit Lauderdale’s partnership with the PBG, a non-profit committed to the economic and cultural development of LGBT+ tourism for Provincetown, was created to amplify Greater Fort Lauderdale’s message of inclusion and diversity.
“I am beyond thrilled that our Visit Lauderdale team continues to think outside of the box to promote Greater Fort Lauderdale. Provincetown is a thriving place for the LGBT+ community and its allies. We are dedicated to being a destination where ALL people are welcomed, regardless of gender, gender expression, race, religion, or disability.”– Richard Gray, Senior Vice President of Inclusion & Accessibility at Visit Lauderdale.
And when Richard Gray is thrilled about something, that’s when I love chatting with him. He is always positive, but when he is excited about a new project, advancing our community and bettering Greater Fort Lauderdale, his energy is contagious.
Gray remembers when he lived in New York City, Provincetown was considered just a summer destination. But with programming advancements and reaching out to so many varying aspects of our community, over the decades Provincetown has built well-known weeks, weekends, holidays, and celebrations to grow it into a year round destination, very similar to Fort Lauderdale.
“Collaboration is key, not competition,” Gray said. “It’s not about Visit Lauderdale, it’s not about Provincetown. We are United in Pride. We are United and Proud.” He and I continued to chat about how the nation is doing, how our community is making it through 2024. The need for our community to be more proactive, more vocal, more present came up, which I echoed. It’s not time to leave anyone behind, no time to give up or stop being who we are, what makes us such a fabulous community. And maybe we need to take a little more action.
And I feel that Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce does that, it takes a little more action each year to make this part of Florida better and better. Yes, I said Florida better because that is the direction we need to go in. And the approach to show that Fort Lauderdale is not alone in the fight to make our world a better place. We across the nation need to be United in Pride. We are not competing with the other gay destinations on the East Coast, but working with them to promote each other, to lift each other, to embrace each other.
These two cities have been leaders in the gay community and LGBTQ Tourism for decades. Trevor Pittinger, the Executive Director of the PBG states, “Celebrating one of our nation’s most historic and diverse LGBTQ+ ‘sister cities’ is a natural fit for Provincetown. Our events continue to grow, diversify, and attract visitors from across the United States and around the world. As the only dedicated queer resource promoting travel to Provincetown, our events, guides, online directories, and social media channels offer a truly unique environment to engage with LGBTQ+ consumers.”
And yes, it is not just Fort Lauderdale showing their love to Provincetown, it works both ways.
The 9th Annual FlockFest Beach Party is presented by our friends from Provincetown, The Crown & Anchor!
Mark your calendars for the biggest beach party of the year, filled with drinks, music by DJ Deanne, hosted by FayWhat?!, and a guaranteed good time!
#flockfest2024 #crownandanchor #proudertogether #beachparty
Let the Fun Begin!
For more information, check out the FlockFest webpage for this event.
For more information on Provincetown’s upcoming annual events, visit Ptown.org.
To learn about Visit Lauderdale’s inclusion and accessibility initiatives, visit VisitLauderdale.com.
