Austin Among World's Top LGBT Pride Destinations: Report

AUSTIN, TX — Austin has been picked as one of the top 50 LGBT destinations worldwide for celebrating Pride this year, according to a new survey.

HomeToGo has produced a guide to the hottest Pride destinations for 2018. Focusing on rising stars around the globe, the survey studied various metrics to achieve its findings:

☆ An ever-expanding Pride festival.
☆ An awesome number of LGBT events.
☆ Vibrant LGBT nightlife.
☆ LGBT-friendly locals.
☆ Affordable LGBT-friendly accommodation.

Given that reckoning, Austin ranks No. 37 in the global shortlist of 50 cities, researchers found.

HomeToGo, the world’s largest search engine for vacation rentals, examined search volume and occupancy rates during Pride on a year-on-year basis, HomeToGo was able to identify 50 cities whose Pride events are enjoying the most exciting annual growth. The results show that more recently established celebrations outside of the largest metropolitan centers are the fastest-growing, researchers found.

After evaluating hundreds of locations around the world, the final shortlist comprises 50 cities that perform strongly in each of the following categories: Strong year-on-year growth of Pride festivities, an impressive offering of LGBT events throughout the year, a vibrant LGBT nightlife, LGBT-friendly locals, and a decent amount of affordable LGBT-friendly accommodations.

Washington, D.C is the queen of this year’s ranking, analysts noted, closely followed by Sydney and Miami.

“Each year, people from all over the world travel to celebrate Pride. Often, the biggest celebrations in New York or London come to mind first, yet there are so many amazing Pride destinations offering visitors a unique and unforgettable experience," said Joanna Booth, head of inbound marketing. "We wanted to explore these trending Pride destinations, and were thrilled to see such impressive YoY growth in searches for them. We are excited to present this guide of trending Pride destinations, as it reflects our mission to help people find and book the best travel accommodation in every location.”

Some notable takeaways about the cities in this year’s ranking:

• 24 countries from around the world have at least one trending city that is included in the final shortlist.
• There is at least one trending Pride destination located on every inhabited continent.
• Four of the cities in the ranking are in Latin America.
• 24 cities from this year’s shortlist are located in North America.
• 17 cities from this year’s shortlist are located in Europe.

You can view the full list here: https://www.hometogo.com/media/pride-index/

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