Brazil is becoming ever tolerant of homosexuality and a flourishing gay scene exists in most of the main cities. In 2008 Sao Paulo hosted the Worlds biggest gay pride event with an estimated 3.4 million marchers! The gay scene is centred in Rio and Sao Paulo where you will find many western style bars, clubs and saunas.
Gay and lesbian tourism is big business in Brazil. Embratur, the government tourism organization, partnered for the first time in 2006 with ABRAT-GLS, a GLBT organization, to promote the São Paulo pride event with a new website and financial support.
In 2007, Embratur worked for the first time with a gay tour operator, G Brazil, to bring international journalists to São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Cabo Frio, and Búzios, with the aim of showing off what these destinations offer gay travellers. Clearly, the Brazilian government wants your business.
“For the future, we intend to create a GLBT bureau that will receive investments from the Ministry of Tourism and work to make the experience [for gay and lesbian visitors] in Brazil something they will never forget,” said Geraldo Bentes, marketing director at Embratur.
In the meantime, ABRAT-GLS has introduced a gay guide to Brazil’s largest destinations on its website.
Other popular events for GLBT travellers include Mix Brasil, a movie festival in November that features works dealing with sexual diversity; and São Paulo Fashion Week, which brings the nation’s hottest designers to the catwalks and shops of Brazil’s largest city.
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