Participants in an Italy Gay Travels tour. (Photo courtesy of Sergio Scardia/Italy Gay Travels)
The number of LGBTQ Americans who travel abroad is expected to increase sharply in the coming months as more of them are vaccinated and governments loosen pandemic restrictions.
A survey of 6,400 LGBTQ people the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association conducted between March 26-April 9 found 73% of respondents said they plan to go on vacation before the end of the year. Nearly a quarter of survey respondents said they made travel reservations within the past week.
“The temperature for traveling is so high,” IGLTA President John Tanzella told the Blade during a telephone interview May 11. “People are just ready to go.
“We took a year off from it, a year off from life and everybody’s ready to get back and explore the world and see friends and go on holidays,” he added. “It’s a much better conversation than we had a year ago.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends Americans delay international travel until they are fully vaccinated.
The EU in the coming weeks is expected to announce that it will allow vaccinated Americans to travel to member countries this summer. Several airlines have already announced they plan to add flights to Israel other countries that have reopened their borders in anticipation of increased demand.
United Airlines last month announced it will begin to offer a non-stop flight from Washington Dulles International Airport to Athens, Greece, in July. Delta Airlines has said it will begin to offer four non-stop flights a week from New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport to Dubrovnik, Croatia, on July 2.
Tanzella noted Brazil is traditionally “a big destination for LGBT travel,” but the pandemic remains largely uncontrolled in the country. Tanzella told the Blade that interest in Mexico and the Caribbean remains high among LGBTQ travelers.
“What a difference a year makes,” he said. “We’re in a very different space at IGLTA than a year ago when we were battening down the hatches and not really knowing what was going to happen.”
The CDC notes Americans do not need to get a COVID test before leaving the U.S. “unless your destination requires it.”
There is no mandatory self-quarantine requirement for travelers once they arrive in the U.S., but anyone on a U.S.-bound flight must test negative for COVID no more than three days before their trip. This regulation applies to American citizens and people who are fully vaccinated.
Cruise ships are expected to begin to sail once again over the summer.
“They’re all starting to look at markets where they can get Americans to go to,” said Tanzella.
Donnya Piggott, an activist from Barbados, is the co-founder of Pink Coconuts, an online platform for LGBTQ travelers.
Piggott on Monday told the Blade that “LGBTQ people have already been some of the first to travel, often times we have the flexibility with less children and a greater need to seek out family and community.” Piggott acknowledged many LGBTQ people have lost their jobs during the pandemic, but they expect the LGBTQ travel industry will begin to rebound once travel restrictions are loosened.
“As the pandemic wanes, we expect the usual suspects to continue flex their economic muscles and travel again,” said Piggott. “On the other hand, there is still a great fear of traveling for many who may have the economic flexibility but are afraid to take risks.”
“We at Pink Coconuts are fairly hopeful and optimistic and know that despite the effects of the pandemic people in general are eager to break free and roam the Earth again,” added Piggott.
Sergio Scardia, co-founder of Italy Gay Travels, which organizes tours of Italy for small groups of gay men, shares Piggott’s optimism about post-pandemic travel.
Scardia on Tuesday noted during an interview from the Puglia region of southern Italy where he lives that upwards of 80 percent of his clients are from the U.S. Scardia told the Blade that Italy Gay Travels — founded in 2017 — was “doing very well” until the pandemic began in the country in February 2020.
“The coronavirus has been a big issue, but we are seeing a restart of interest in traveling,” said Scardia.
Scardia said he expects tourists will begin to return to Italy as soon as July.
“It all depends upon the recommendations,” he told the Blade. “We are confident that by July it will be similar to what it was before.”
