Queer destinations in the Mediterranean

Abstract

Studies show that tourism plays an important role in building an individual’s identity and that tourism is an integrated factor of the westernized way of life. Recent research confirms that gay tourism is a strong and growing market and has an even stronger potential for growth. Businesses are focusing on gay travellers. Beside the visual and vocal support towards the LGBT community from the tourism industry, more countries and destinations are focusing on gay travellers and vying for a piece of this lucrative market. The Mediterranean is a fractioned region and literature about gay travel in the region tends to ignore North African countries and the eastern shores of the Mediterranean. The lure of the Mediterranean to homosexuals of Northern-Europe is ingrained in literature of the Grand Tour era and the Mediterranean Sea’s history of gay travelling is central to the phenomenon of gay tourism. Nonetheless, despite the fact that the Mediterranean is one of the most popular destinations in the world, there has been little research about gay destinations in the Mediterranean. This paper is an exploratory study of the gay destinations in the Mediterranean. In this study, the past experiences in Mediterranean gay destinations, namely: Sitges, Ibiza, Barcelona, Mykonos and Lesbos, of a sample of Maltese gay and lesbian travellers were explored and assessed. The study was undertaken through semistructured interviews conducted with 10 gay and lesbian participants, in an attempt to identify: What defines a Mediterranean gay destination? What were the motivations to visit a gay destination? Would the interviewees go on holiday to a Mediterranean destination that is not considered as gay friendly? Do gays and lesbians consider gay space as a requisite for choosing a holiday destination? Can Malta aspire to be included in the list of gay destinations in the Mediterranean?