IGLTA and Gran Canaria

Ever since Amro Worldwide started selling holidays to Gran Canaria, I have been puzzled as to why Europe's most popular gay destination had so few members of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association. I mused about why, with around 150 gay business with bars, restaurants, clubs and saunas plus a wide range of exclusively gay and gay-friendly accommodation, so few decided that membership of a worldwide gay travel network was not important.

So I decided that IGLTA needed some wider publicity on the Island and last autumn, approached Carlos Kytka, the European Ambassador who led me to Dario Jaen the Local Maspalomas Tourism Manager. The outcome after several meetings and phone calls was a presentation about IGLTA held on Tuesday 2 February. We were delighted that ExpoMeloneras - the local conference centre in Maspalomas - made a room available for us.

And so representatives from over 30 businesses including the local hospital gathered for a presentation by Carlos about IGLTA membership, an outlining of the benefits of working together to develop Gran Canaris to retain its leadership in the European Gay Travel Market from Dario and me explaining how membership of IGLTA had helped Amro to develop into the worldwide gay travel company it is today.

It was an excellent afternoon and I felt a real buzz about gay travel in the air. I am confident we will see many new members at the IGLTA Annual Convention in Antwerp at the end of June