Travel For Gays and Lesbians

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Five tour operators that stretch your dollar and your mind

A majority of gay tour operators blatantly market their products as upscale, luxurious, and far from affordable. Thankfully, a handful doesn't. You can always check out the round-up of twenty monthly best buys from gay operators listed on the useful and up-to-date web site www.gaytravelnews.com. Here are profiles of five specifically cost-conscious tour operators serving the gay market:

Gay Jet (800/9-GAYJET, gayjet.com/): Only a couple years old, Gay Jet has quickly become a budget leader, offering all kinds of air/hotel packages around the globe. Amazing deals include three nights in Europe with air for $489, or seven nights on two Hawaiian islands for only $625, air-inclusive. Moreover, their web site is a plethora of gay travel info, from an events calendar to travel bulletin boards, and you can also book online gay-friendly hotels, car rentals, and flights. Alyson Adventures (800/8-ALYSON, www.alysonadventures.com): Specializing in outdoor adventures, Alyson recently joined forces with the large and more staid Hanns Ebensten Travel (although both will keep their respective identities). Alyson's trips include biking, hiking, skiing, kayaking, scuba diving, rafting, and other active adventures, at reasonable costs (starting at $1,195 for a week). Most meals, activity costs, accommodations, and parties are included in their pricing.

Inta-Aussie (800/531-9222, inta-aussie.com/): The Australia-based mainstream tour operator Inta-Aussie has jumped into the gay and lesbian travel market full force, with incredible deals to Oceania and the South Pacific for dirt cheap, thanks to their volume discounts. Deals start at $999 for five nights' hotel in Sydney, air-inclusive from the West Coast. Their Sydney Gay Mardi Gras package is $1,799 for air-inclusive five nights' hotel, a city tour, a harbor cruise, and a ticket to the actual Mardi Gras party (over $110 each themselves).

2Afrika (877/200-5610, 2afrika.com/): This gay-owned Africa tour operator is little known in the gay market since it specializes in mainstream travel, but their gay-friendly deals to the world's second largest continent can't be beat. 2Afrika promotes a $999 package to Cape Town from the East Coast, including air and five nights' accommodations, as well as info on the gay scene and even a gay tour guide if needed. They also offer packages to Ghana and Senegal for not much more, as well as week-long safaris in Kenya and Tanzania starting at $1,795 including air, all meals, and fairly upscale accommodations-much less than their competitors.

Pied Piper Travel (800/874-7312, piedpipertravel.com/): Around since 1990 (and mentioned last week on our site), Pied Piper specializes in small gay groups aboard mainstream cruises (including the Queen Elizabeth 2 and Queen Mary 2) in contrast to the more expensive gay-only cruises offered by other companies. Included in their cruise deals are private cocktails parties, a tour escort, private dining tables, and of course meals and most drinks. Seven-night cruises start at an amazing $461 per person.

Cruises and Mexican resorts

RSVP Travel Productions of Minneapolis (rsvp.net/) and "Atlantis Events" of West Hollywood (800/628-5268; atlantisevents.com/) appear to be the largest tour companies for gay men and lesbians. In addition to operating a great many gay cruises since 1986, RSVP offers vacations in Peru, Ireland and French Polynesia, among other destinations. Atlantis, appealing to a slightly younger and perhaps more active clientele, runs a variety of stays, tours and cruises to various Blue Bay resorts and on smaller cruise ships, as well as to its own "Club Atlantis" near Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

Olivia Cruises and Resorts of Oakland, CA (phone 510/655-0364 or 800/631-6277; oliviatravel.com/), is the largest operator of cruises and tours for lesbian travelers, a successful company in the cruise business since 1990 whose destinations are widely scattered and sold to a national audience. Its cruises outnumber its land tours four to one, and have recently gone to such attractive locations as Greece, China, Vietnam and Thailand, Tahiti, Turkey, and Alaska. It also offers long-term payment plans for its packages. Because of its high volume of incoming phone calls, you will occasionally have to leave a number, but are always called back promptly.

Particularly skilled at low-cost group tours on popular cruise ships is New York City-based Pied Piper Travel (800/874-7312; in New York 212/239-2412; gaygroupcruises.com/). Pied Piper's periodic offerings typically run in the Caribbean and to Europe, with a few to Australia and Africa. In San Diego, a company called Arco Iris specializes in escorted tours and group tours to Mexico, including airfare from many U.S. cities, for quite decent prices (800/765-4370; arcoiristours.com/).

Land-based holidays