Vancouver tops for gay tourism

[Nutterbug]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-col...ay-travel.html

Vancouver tops for gay tourism
Last Updated: Monday, December 4, 2006 | 9:58 AM PT
CBC News

Vancouver has been named Canada's top destination for gay tourists, beating out Montreal and Toronto for the first time.

The top ranking was the result of an international survey conducted by Community Marketing of San Francisco.

Gay visitors are attracted by welcoming attitudes, as well as the scenery.Gay visitors are attracted by welcoming attitudes, as well as the scenery.
(CBC)

Taylore Darnel owns Belles and Balls, which organizes gay weddings. She said clients from the U.S. and other countries find Vancouver a welcoming place.

Visitors appreciate "being able to walk down the street hand in hand, being able to walk on the beach and have their arms around each other," she said, "particularly those who come from south of the Mason-Dixon line, where even looking at each other sidewise on the street is not a good thing to do."

Darnel also said a few of her American and Asian clients loved the city so much, they've moved to Vancouver.

The head of Tourism Vancouver says aggressive marketing aimed at the gay community is paying off. Rick Antonson said hotels and resorts have been offering special packages for the gay traveller.

Demographic studies show the gay population has a large amount of disposable income, making gays desirable customers. Gay travellers spend an estimated $65 billion a year in North America alone.

[rgalston]

Fabulous news!

[Archiseek]

simply fabulous sweetie

[Rusty van Reddick]

Toronto and Montreal have much better gay club/bar scenes than Vancouver does. Church St can be a sad place sometimes, but Davie is just decrepit. Add to this the fact that the only time I've really been attacked (verbally, but still) for being from "redneck Calgary" in Vancouver was in a gay bar- and it's happened EVERY SINGLE TIME I've gone to Vancouver and been asked where I was from. The first time I ever went to Vancouver was 1984, when I was in college, and when I innnocently said I was American (originally the case for me, and I was in college in Portland), I got loud lecture from the fucking bartender - "how could you people elect Reagan?!?!" The jerkoff didn't even ask if I supported Reagan first, he just layed into me about how evil all Americans were. Exactly like what happens now that I live in Calgary.

Worst, most unwelcoming gay scene ever. The only way you can be respected is if you renounce wherever you're from, say it's shit, and avow eternal allegiance to Vancouver and only Vancouver in all its perfection.

[LeftCoaster]

thats not just the gay scene, we ask that you renounce all allegiances when in vancouver... its just the way we are.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

thats not just the gay scene, we ask that you renounce all allegiances when in vancouver... its just the way we are.

I hate to say this, but I don't think people in Vancouver have any idea how much the rest of the country hates you. And it's not because Vancouver's beautiful and is not jealousy. It's because of precisely the smug attitude that you are (I hope) satirizing.

[fishy]

^
Thats based on your experience, so why generalize?

[LeftCoaster]

I was kidding there of course, and we definetly have an idea of how much the rest of the country hates us (the rest of the country being calgary), we just dont give a shit... Vancouver is better and we know it.

[Greco Roman]

Originally Posted by Archiseek

simply fabulous sweetie

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

I was kidding there of course, and we definetly have an idea of how much the rest of the country hates us (the rest of the country being calgary), we just dont give a shit... Vancouver is better and we know it.

You don't give a shit about spelling either, apparently.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by fishy

^
Thats based on your experience, so why generalize?

Wow- my experience? Has ANYBODY ever found Vancouverites to be anything but unfriendly and arrogant, happy to demean wherever visitors are from because wherever that is, isn't Vancouver?

[IntotheWest]

Furry - I'm not gay, but have been down to Davie's a few times (during sunlight hours however), and never had a bad experience.

I like Hamburger Mary's (and I'm sure there was another hamburger place on or close to Davie's), bought my wine at Marquis (I was there long-term, so bringing from cheaper-and-better-selection AB wasn't an option), and even made the "mistake" of having breakfast at Sugar Daddy's...turned out to be a great breaky, just didn't have crayons for the kids :-)


I think from other posts I've read of yours, 1984 is not the last time you were in Van...was that just one bad experience, or has it been consistently bad?

Leftcoaster - you're simply displaying the smug attitude Furry is talking about.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by IntotheWest

Furry - I think from other posts I've read of yours, 1984 is not the last time you were in Van...was that just one bad experience, or has it been consistently bad?

Lemme clarify- there are many things I love about Vancouver and I always have a good time when I'm there. I don't mean to diss the city in toto. There are two insufferable things, however, that always happen to me. One is that, as a gay man, I pop into Pumpjack or wherever and strike up a conversation and after the "where are you from," when I say "Calgary," I get outrageous insulting disrespect- like, "OH my GOD I would never set FOOT in Alberta." WHO DOES THIS? Who speaks to tourists this way? I've never encountered this sort of extreme rudeness anywhere in the world. It BUGS. And as I say, it happens every visit to Vancouver. Now if I said, "unfortunately I'm stuck in hell in Calgary but can't wait to move to Vancouver," which is indeed the sentiment of a lot of people, then yeah, I'm sure I'd be welcome, but since I am unrepentant about being in Calgary (and even, shockers, like living here), I get shit for it.

The second thing- outside of the gay village, I actually don't get much disrespect about being from Calgary, and that's nice, but what does happen is I hear a lot of hate about Toronto, which was my first home in Canada and which I love. Same theme as in the gay bars, different city- "Where are you from?" "Toronto." "Oh, I HATE Toronto." No lie, this happened to my partner. It can really ruin a trip.

All that being said- I was in Van last July and we had a great time, no disrespect at all, BUT we didn't make it to the gay village, just Mt Pleasant and Kits.

Davie has its sad spots, IntoWest, lousy with street kids and such, that's all. It does have some places worth being but they tend towards the Yaletown and Denman sides, in my experience.

[agrant]

Smug - irritatingly pleased with oneself; self-satisfied.

I've been called worse.

[sync]

Originally Posted by furrycanuck

where are you from," when I say "Calgary," I get outrageous insulting disrespect- like, "OH my GOD I would never set FOOT in Alberta."

yep, happens to me every time.

usually followed by, "WHY WOULD YOU LIVE THERE?" and "OMG WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO FIGURE IT OUT AND MOVE TO A REAL CITY" which i assume to mean vancouver.

even when i lived there and people would ask where i came from and i'd say alberta they'd reply with "wow, you finally figured it out, hey?""

frankly, it's one of the reasons i finally left vancouver.

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by sync

yep, happens to me every time.

usually followed by, "WHY WOULD YOU LIVE THERE?" and "OMG WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO FIGURE IT OUT AND MOVE TO A REAL CITY" which i assume to mean vancouver.

even when i lived there and people would ask where i came from and i'd say alberta they'd reply with "wow, you finally figured it out, hey?""

frankly, it's one of the reasons i finally left vancouver.

yup, same idea for Edmonton:

"boring, cold, only white people, cold, dirty, no culture, no anything"

....umm....ok

[SHOFEAR]

Well, this explains Coldrsx's bi-weekly trip to Vancouver.

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by SHOtime

Well, this explains Coldrsx's bi-weekly trip to Vancouver.

"bi weekly"


zing zing

[SpongeG]

maybe people can learn from bad tourist experiences

most of the people I know (gay) are from everywhere but Vancouver - so they do diss other places - usually the ones they left behind - its not to be superior just to be funny perhaps - most gay people i know have had horrible experiences in the past and are more than glad to get away from places that caused them pain...

Davie street and the gay scene in Vancouver is really sad if you are into clubbing and bar hopping - but most str8 bars in Vancouver are gay friendly for the most part

but Vancouver does have a active community and there are many groups, sport things etc to join - something a lot of cities perhaps don't have

[IntotheWest]

Originally Posted by furrycanuck

"where are you from," when I say "Calgary," I get outrageous insulting disrespect- like, "OH my GOD I would never set FOOT in Alberta." WHO DOES THIS? Who speaks to tourists this way?

Fair enough, I thought you were restricting that to the gay neighbourhood

Yes, as I was travelling there weekly for two years, I had the same reaction even from the hotel, restaurant, cabbies, and airport staff - people that should know how to talk to tourists...however, I just figured that had something to do with just Calgary and was typically ALWAYS weather related (starting in September, and lasting until May - "So, is it cold in Calgary?"...most common question).