San Francisco, CA, December 12, 2016 — GayCities — the world’s most popular LGBTQ community-driven city guide and travel site — today announced winners of its the annual “Best of GayCities” program (gaycities.com/best-of-2016/).
GayCities readers cast tens of thousands of votes for more than 60 of the world’s best destinations in twelve categories, ranging from “Best Gayborhood” to “Up-and-Coming” city.
San Francisco took top voter honors as “Best City of 2016.”
GayCities also announced two new honorary awards for the City of the Year and Innovator of the Year. These special honors went to the city of Orlando for its compassion and resiliency in the wake of the Pulse Nightclub massacre and to Richard Gray of Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau for creating the first destination marketing program for the transgender community.
Complete list of categories and winners:
- Best of 2016: San Francisco
- The Inaugural Innovator Award: Richard Gray, Fort Lauderdale Tourism
- City of The Year: Orlando
- Best Festival Destination: Southern Decadence, New Orleans
- Fun in the Sun: Puerto Vallarta
- Best Singles Scene: London & Berlin (tie)
- Hottest Gayborhood: SOMA, San Francisco
- Foodie Paradise: Madrid
- Up-And-Coming City: Stockholm
- Stand Out Hotel Collection: W Hotels
- Best Cruises: Royal Caribbean
- Winter Wonderland: Aspen, CO
- Cultural Capital: New York City
- Best Airline: Virgin America
“Orlando has long been an inclusive destination for everyone to make incredible memories with those they love, and we are exceptionally honored that our community is receiving this award,” said George Aguel, Chief Executive Officer and President of Visit Orlando, the official organization that represents the destination’s tourism industry. “Our city faced an unimaginable tragedy, and we have been humbled by the incredible outpouring of support we received from people all over the world — for Orlando both as a community and as a cherished travel destination. We are grateful for how the LGBTQ community has wholeheartedly embraced us.”
“I want Transgender travelers to Greater Fort Lauderdale to be like all travelers,” said Innovator of the year award winner Richard Gray. “Free to be themselves, free to be accepted and most of all safe, welcome and respected. Diversity and inclusion reign supreme here in Greater Fort Lauderdale. It is an integral part of our personality and it is who we are as a destination.”
Q.Digital CEO Scott Gatz said the awards program would not have been possible without the participation of GayCities readers. “It’s the contributions of GayCities members that have made GayCities into the number one site to discover where to go and what to see all over the world,” said Gatz. “So it is only fitting that our members picked the friendliest and best destinations everywhere.”
For more information on the awards, please visit: www.gaycities.com/best-of-2016
ABOUT Q.Digital
Q.Digital is a fast-growing media company targeting the LGBTQ community. It operates GayCities, the location based social network that helps people uncover the best of what’s happening everywhere, Queerty, the entertainment site that’s “free of an agenda, except that gay one,” and LGBTQNation, the world’s most followed LGBTQ site with more than 1.2 million Facebook fans. Together the media sites reach over seven million consumers each month, making it a first stop for advertisers looking to reach a valuable, highly targeted audience.
For more information, please visit:
• qd.q.digital
• gaycities.com
• queerty.com
• lgbtqnation.com
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