Earlier this week, I was invited by @TheGayTraveler to attend a special opening reception for the 2020 New York Times Travel Show. The evening was an industry meet and greet at the Times Square W Hotel, comprised of travel brands, hotels, cruises lines, tourism boards, and more, marketing their services to the LGBTQ+ community.
The cocktail hour and menu of lite bites were sponsored by the IGLTA, the world’s leading network of LGBTQ+ welcoming tourism businesses. The very important travel resource for the LGBTQ community recently announced their upcoming May 2020 conference will take place in Milan, Italy.
The 2020 New York Times Travel Show is the most significant and longest-running trade and consumer travel show in North America. Now in its 17th year, boasting 750 exhibitors, travel experts, and the world’s top travel brands and partners over three days of networking and sharing industry knowledge with consumers. Today was the opening of the show at the massive Jacob Javitz Convention Center in New York City.
With many major brands looking to court LGBTQ consumers, our community needs to know which companies are real allies and which ones slap rainbows in their shop windows, only in June. The IGLTA proudly presents an inclusive pavilion during the Travel Show, all in one area of the convention center where queer-owned business and allied LGBTQ travel and marketing brands are able to introduce their services to their target demographic.
Coming soon I will be featuring many of the LGBTQ – specific travel brands I discovered this week. However, in the meantime, I’ve included a few images from today’s overall featured companies and destinations on display. Until then, Happy Gay Travels!
Saturday, Jan. 25, and Sunday, Jan. 26 will be open to the public, with two full days of cultural presentations and performances, food demonstrations, and one-on-one conversations with travel experts and influencers on a myriad of travel topics for diverse demographics. For more information about the NYTimes Travel Show 2020, visit here.
