We are already midway through summer and LGBTI travelers, one of the most dynamic travel audiences, mold the landscape of the global tourism industry with their travel choices. 

Travel by Interest, a gay travel website that turned into a global hotel-choosing tool, researched what gay travelers search for ahead of their summer holidays, and ‘Gay Beaches’ proved to be the hottest trend in Google with more than 58,000 average monthly searches.

But… could a gay beach, even if that gay beach is one of the best in the world, become a reason to choose your next destination? In some cases yes; in others no. One thing is for sure: gay men love beaches – who wouldn’t, as they are relaxed and carefree, making socializing much easier. But what did gay travelers search for regarding gay beaches?

This report was generated on Google Keyword Planner

The pattern ‘gay beach + destination’ seems to be very popular for both alternative and famous destinations. Yet, the searches do not just focus on destinations but also on more generic ideas, like gay beach resorts and – interestingly – gay beach weddings. It seems like year by year, gay men become more romantic!

Before we begin presenting the most searched gay beaches in the world, it is worth mentioning that in addition to the leaders in ‘Gay Beach’ related searches, United States & United Kingdom, we found a vivid interest from Canada, Brazil, and India.

This report was generated on Google Keyword Planner

Popular Summer Destinations: The top of the tops!

Photo: Shutterstock

During our research, we found many gay summer destinations, which were to be expected. But, on the top of all of them, we found the one and only Gay Barcelona, with the keyword ‘Gay Beach Barcelona‘ being hit approximately 1,600 times per month.

Next comes the notorious ‘Gay Beach Mykonos‘, which counts approximately 1,000 Searches per month in Google, while the most popular months are naturally from June to August. Mykonos is home to various gay beaches, but when people search this keyword, they most probably search for Elia Beach. 

‘Gay Beach Miami‘ searches average approximately 1,000 per month, while the keyword’s peak months are January, March, April & May – when the relevant searches reach up to 1,300.

Stuck in the middle: Still Popular, but fewer searches

Photo: Shutterstock

Some destinations surprised us as they had fewer searches than what we would expect. For example, Gay Beach Sitges is one of them, averaging 880 searches per month. 

With a similar number of searches, we found Gay Beach Fort Lauderdale. However, the competition is so high on this keyword, that companies have to pay up to 5 euros per click to be shown on the first page of Google Results. It’s obvious that Fort Lauderdale will be companies’ least favorite destination of the year.

Gay Beach Tel Aviv, on the other hand, might have an average of 770 monthly searches per month on Google, but this doubles in May, right before Tel Aviv Pride. Gay Beach Ibiza proves to be an iconic keyword opportunity, gathering an average of 720 searches per month. The keyword shares almost the same searches with gay bar Ibiza and gay hotel Ibiza.

Finally, Gay Beach Lisbon has approximately 590 searches per month, a number that’s doubled during the summer months from June to September. The keyword “Gay beach 19 Lisbon” has also made its appearance through our research. 

At the bottom: Fewer Searches, but still on demand!

Photo: Drew Sullivan on Unsplash

Lastly, we found some destinations – popular or not – which aren’t in the top positions. However, they still gather a respectable amount of searches. Gay Beach Bali is searched approximately 320 times per month, peaking during March. We should note that there are not any gay-only beaches in Bali – only gay-friendly.

The keyword Gay Beach Greece is also on the rise with 260 avg. monthly searches. Many islands and popular seaside destinations in Greece feature at least one gay beach. It’s nice seeing more gay travelers interested in learning more about them. 

Gay Beach Ipanema is the only gay beach on our list that attracts more searches than the usual combination “gay beach + destination”. This keyword averages 210 searches in Google per month, while “Gay Beach Rio” gathers only 170.

Our research on the keyword ‘Gay Beach’ has brought forward many popular gay destinations, but also many alternative ones. Gay Beach Bali is definitely among the most unexpected keywords found on our report. So, tell us your opinion. Which of the above keywords did surprise you the most? And, don’t forget to let us know which trend you would like to cover on one of our next articles!

This was sponsored by Travel by Interest. 

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