Until recently, outside of certain parts of Thailand, few Asian destinations had put much effort into courting gay and lesbians vacationers. Attitudes and economic objectives are changing, however, and in many Asian nations that previously shunned or at least kept mum about GLBT culture, tourism offices and local businesses are advertising in targeted media and working with specialized tour operators to encourage gay visitors. It's great news if you're a bit weary of vacationing in the same old places, or perhaps a bit wary of visiting new destinations with unproven track records when it comes to acceptance of gays and, more broadly, human rights issues.
As I noted in my analysis of the New York Times 31 Places to Go article earlier this year, the vaunted Himalayan nation of Nepal - an otherwise highly traditional Hindu country - passed gay rights legislation in 2008. Now, according to an article by the Associated Press, this nation in which "just five years ago, police were beating gays and transsexuals in the streets" is stepping up efforts to boost GLBT tourism - and possibly even legalize gay marriage. OUT Adventures, the fast-emerging Canada-based gay tour operator, which I recently profiled, offered a Gay Nepal trip early in 2010, and Nepal gay activist and member of parliament Sunil Pant has developed an agency, Pink Mountain Travels & Tours, to help GLBT travelers plan vacations here. The excellent website on GLBT travel in Asia, Utopia, has a short but helpful online directory on the gay scene in Nepal.
Similarly traditional Cambodia, where homosexuality is legal but nevertheless has generally been kept on the down-low, also has shown increased signs lately of emerging as a popular gay destination, thereby joining its neighbors Thailand and to a lesser but growing extent Vietnam to turn the Indochinese peninsula into a bona fide GLBT holiday spot. The New York Times recently chronicled the rise of gay and lesbian tourism in Siem Reap, renowned for its Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom ruins. Utopia, again, has an extremely useful gay guide to Cambodia, focused heavily upon both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh but also providing links to gay-friendly businesses in Sihanoukville, Battambang, and Kep. There's also a new-ish Website geared exclusively to GLBT culture in Cambodia, aptly named CambodiaOut.com.
Gay tours available to Cambodia are definitely on the rise. The well-established GLBT Asian tour specialist Purple Dragon, can custom-design all-inclusive gay adventures to Cambodia, depending on your budget and what exactly you'd like to see and do. OUT Adventures is again a good bet - they offer a Comfort Indochina tour, covering both Vietnam and Cambodia over 15 days, in August and then again in December 2010. VentureOut is another highly respected GLBT outfitter that organizes small-group trips to Cambodia - a two-week Vietnam, Cambodia, and The Riches of the Mekong tour is slated for late November 2010.
Very good review on the new emerging gay destination.
We could add about Cambodia, that the country has even now a “100% gay” resort : MEN’s including a Boutique Hotel with 10 stylish rooms, a large swimming pool, a fitness center, massage service and Sauna/Spa.