Texas-based travel company launches all-gay cruise

Concierge Travel, the largest gay-owned and operated travel agency and tour operator in the state of Texas, today announced details on its first all-gay luxury sailing ship cruise to Costa Rica and Panama.  The charter cruise will sail on Star Clippers’ elegant Star Flyer clipper ship March 6 to 13, 2011.
 
Founded in Houston in 1997, Concierge Travel entered the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender market a few years later.  In 2009, Concierge Travel expanded beyond its travel agent roots and began offering its own small ship cruise vacations – starting with a sold out Galapagos Islands cruise on Celebrity Xpedition – in response to a continuing demand in the market for intimate, small-ship experiences. 
 
Today, Concierge Travel has grown its customized vacation offerings to include this once-in-a-lifetime sailing adventure in Costa Rica on the 170-passenger Star Flyer in March 2011, as well land trips in 2010 and 2011 to South Africa and Peru.

“We’ve gotten to know our gay and lesbian guests very well over the last 10 years,” said Kim Gustavsson, vice president of sales and marketing at Concierge Travel. “We’ve traveled with them and listened to the feedback along the way. More and more of them told us that they wanted more intimate, small-ship cruise options. So we’re very pleased to be able to bring them an unforgettable seven-night adventure on the luxurious Star Flyer.”

According to the 14th Annual Gay & Lesbian Travel Study conducted by Community Marketing, Inc. , a San Francisco-based marketing firm specialing in gay research, far more gay travelers took cruises in the past year than their mainstream counterparts, indicating that gay travelers are a viable cruise market even in down economies.

Concierge Travel’s new cruise will sail from Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica on March 6, 2011. After a day at sea, the ship will dock in Isla de Coiba, Panama, where guests will be able to explore virgin rainforests or dive among sea turtles, dolphins and manta rays. The cruise will continue on to six more ports on Costa Rica’s sunny Pacific coast, with highlights ranging from archaeological ruins on Isla del Cano to powder white sand beaches and an astonishing array of wildlife in Quepos and nearby Manuel Antonio National Park.
 
Star Clipper’s 170-passenger Star Flyer is the world’s tallest sailing ship, with a mast that stands 226 feet tall. Yet, much smaller than the massive, floating hotel mega-ships that dominate the cruise industry, Star Flyer’s smaller size enables it to visit ports often untouched by larger cruise ships, while offering passengers the activities, amenities and atmosphere of a private yacht. 
 
Star Flyer offers spacious accommodations and expansive teak decks with two swimming pools. The decor of Star Clipper and Star Flyer is reminiscent of the grand age of sailing, with antique prints and paintings and teak and gleaming mahogany rails.
 
Staterooms on this Costa Rica and Panama adventure start at $2,275. Rates are per person, based on double occupancy, and include all of Star Clipper’s deluxe accommodations and services, in addition to Concierge Travel’s customized service, entertainment and activities.
 
“More and more gay and lesbian travelers are looking for relaxing, intimate and fun vacation options in the company of other like-minded individuals,” said Gustavsson.  “Our new customized, charter vacations fill a needed niche in the market and give more travelers the special kind of vacation that they’re looking for.”
 
Concierge Travel was named Houston’s “Gayest & Greatest Travel Agency” by OutSmart Magazine in 2010, an honor it has received each year since 2002. It was also named “Best LGBT Cruise or Tour Company” in 2010. OutSmart Magazine is an award-winning LGBT magazine in Houston, Texas. The magazine surveys its 60,000 monthly readers and its online readers about the best in gay travel in Texas.
 
Reservations for the Costa Rica and Panama cruise as well as any other Concierge Travel vacation can be made by contacting Concierge Travel directly at (877) 775.9616. Additional information is also available at www.conciergetravel.cc.