Tel Aviv revelling in gay tourism boom

[King_David]

Maayan Lubell, Reuters

First posted: Friday, January 27, 2012 12:00 AM EST

Less than an hour away but a world apart from traditional places of pilgrimage in the Holy Land, Israel's free-wheeling city of Tel Aviv has become a Mediterranean hotspot for gay tourism.

"Tel Aviv is hot right now because it's unique," said Adir Steiner, who coordinates gay pride events for the city.

"It's in the Middle East where it's not so easy to be gay and it's like a paradise in an area where you will not obviously find an open city like Tel Aviv," he said.

Leon Avigad, owner of the gay-friendly Brown hotel, said Tel Aviv has become a "gay Mecca" and is enjoying a tremendous tourist boom in recent years.

"Tel Aviv is small enough to be intimate but big enough to absorb hundreds of thousands of tourists every year...we're cosmopolitan, we're very Western, European and American but on the other hand we're very much into the Middle Eastern warmth and welcoming, and this combination attracts," Avigad said.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/01/24/tel-aviv-revelling-in-gay-tourism-boom

[King_David]

1. ''The best-looking dudes in the whole world are in Israel,"

"And of course we have the Israeli guys, (who) are so amazing. The best-looking dudes in the whole world are in Israel," Patriot said.



(agreed)

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. Mediterranean women (including Israeli) are also astounding

Something my wife and I always agreed upon

[King_David]

3. Agreed