The Bilerico Project | Daily experiments in LGBTQ

The folks over at LOGO have announced their first ever TripOutGayTravel.com Awards and one of the winners is Fort Lauderdale, FL travel Guru Richard Gray. Also named for "Best Ultimate Luxury Hotel/Resort (Global)" is the Fontainebleau Resort in Miami and for "Sexiest Place on Earth"- Fort Lauderdale beaches & bars:

NEW YORK, Aug. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Logo, a unit of Viacom's MTV Networks (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:VIA.B), announced today that TripOutGayTravel.com, its comprehensive travel site dedicated to the LGBT traveler and MTV Network's first stand-alone, travel-focused site, will present its first ever "TripOut Gay Travel Awards." The awards honor the most stylish, exciting and hottest destinations and services that attract, pamper and market to the LGBT traveler.

The "TripOut Gay Travel Awards" honor the destinations and travel services that deserve such unique titles including "Sexiest Place on Earth," "Best Breakout Destination," "Ultimate Luxury Hotel" and "Best Gay Bar in the World" for the gay and lesbian community. TripOutGayTravel.com recruited an academy of seasoned writers, editors and travel experts covering the LGBT travel market to comprise this year's list of nominations. However, it is up to the site's readers and fans to determine who deserves the title for the best gay destination, tour operator or hospitality service. Travel enthusiasts can vote for their favorites beginning today on TripOutGayTravel.com and the results will be announced on November 2, 2009.

In addition to honoring this year's best in LGBT travel and tourism, TripOutGayTravel.com will honor Richard Gray, pictured, of Richard Gray Consulting with the first ever "The Gay+ Award for Achievement in Making Our World Gayer." The award goes to a professional who has increased awareness of the LGBT consumer in the world of travel, tourism and hospitality. Richard Gray can be described as one of the modern day founders of gay and lesbian travel. Gray single-handedly brought the gay market to Fort Lauderdale, Florida in effort to create a marketing coalition to support the LGBT community. Gray's model of marketing has become a standard in other destinations around the world to market to the LGBT traveler and tourist.

In honor of the "TripOut Gay Travel Awards", Logo will host a weekend full of series, films and documentaries that will make you want to pack your bags and book the next flight out of town to the latest hottest vacation spot. Beginning Saturday, September 26, gay and lesbian travel-themed programming will hit the airwaves including Logo's travel-series "Bump! " and "Round Trip Ticket" and documentaries about Fire Island in "When Ocean Meets Sky," New York City in "Out in the City" and longtime New England tourist hotspot Provincetown, MA in "Ptown Diaries." "TripOut Gay Travel Awards Weekend" begins Saturday, September 26 at 6 AM ET/PT through Sunday, September 27.

TripOutGayTravel.com launched in May 2009 providing LGBT travelers with the latest on gay travel through its vast editorial features, deep destination guide content and the web's largest gay travel video library. The site also invites users to recommend and comment on destinations, as well as discuss the thousands of travel listings on the site. While TripOutGayTravel.com is part of Logo's larger constellation of Web properties, the site operates separately from LOGOonline.com. TripOutGayTravel.com marks the first stand-alone, travel-focused Web property launched by MTV Networks.

The TripOutGayTravel.com community can also book their next trip through the site, which is powered by Travelocity's booking engine. TripOutGayTravel.com provides a platform for travel aficionados to get informed and connect with other travel fanatics with user recommendations and a gay-friendly ratings system for travel destinations. Additionally the site features a daily travel blog, extensive travel video from LOGOonline.com and editorial features such as "The World's 10 Best Gay Beaches", "Quick & Easy Romantic Road Trips" and "The Most Historic LGBT Places in the U.S."

As a proud partner of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA), TripOutGayTravel.com showcases only the most trusted sources for gay travel planning. The site delivers a new style that creates a best-in-breed gay travel planning experience.

The launch of TripOutGayTravel.com followed the recent successful growth of Logo's Web properties. According to ComScore's August report the Logo Constellation of sites continues to be the #1 federation of wholly-owned LGBT properties online. As a demonstration of Logo's online presence and its continual commitment to the LGBT audience "The TripOut Gay Travel Awards" will include support from LOGOonline's affiliated sites including LOGOonline.com, NewNowNext.com and 365Gay.com. In addition, Logo's Monthly newsletters, TripOut Gay Travel and xoxoLogo, will drive readers to vote online for their pick of the top LGBT travel destinations.

For more information about the nominees listed below, please go to TripOutGayTravel.com.

About Logo:

Logo is the world's leading ad-supported cable, satellite, online, mobile and digital entertainment gay and lesbian-themed network, from MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:VIA.B). Launched in 2005, Logo's cable channel is in more than 39 million homes across the United States and is complemented by a federation of online properties, including LOGOonline.com, TripOutGayTravel.com, AfterEllen.com, AfterElton.com, 365Gay.com, DowneLink.com and NewNowNext.com. Logo's content is distributed across all leading download-to-own, streaming and mobile services. The most influential brand for the most influential audience, Logo provides a mix of original and acquired entertainment as well as news, social networking and community building that are authentic, smart, fun, entertaining, and inclusive. Logo joins MTV Networks' roster of popular and highly targeted brands which include MTV, Comedy Central, VH1 and Spike TV.

Nominees for the First Annual "TripOut Gay Travel Awards":

Best Global Destination (City or Country)
Barcelona
Buenos Aires
London
Montreal
Rio de Janeiro
Sydney

Best U.S. Destination
New Orleans, Louisiana
New York City, New York
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Portland, Oregon
Provincetown, Massachusetts
San Francisco, California

Best Airline
American
Delta
JetBlue
Qantas
Southwest
Virgin America

Best Hotel Chain (Collection)
Ace Hotels
Four Seasons
Hyatt
Kimpton
Joie de Vivre
W Hotels

Best LGBT Tour Operator
Alyson Adventures
Atlantis Events
R Family Cruises
Sweet
Undersea Expeditions
Zoom Vacations

Best Annual Gay Destination Party or Event
Amsterdam Pride
Burning Man
Dinah Shore / The Dinah
Madrid Pride
Pride Toronto
Sydney Mardi Gras

Best Ultimate Luxury Hotel/Resort (Global)
Wynn Las Vegas - Las Vegas, NV
Fontainebleau Resort - Miami, FL
Four Seasons Maui - Maui, HI
Park Hyatt - Tokyo, Japan
Singita Lodge & Game Reserves - Kruger National Park, South Africa
Mandarin Oriental Dhari Devi Chiang Mai - Chiang Mai, Thailand

Best Breakout Destination
Bogota, Colombia
Croatia
Curacao, Dutch West Indies
Mumbai, India
Santiago, Chile
Shanghai, China

Sexiest Place on Earth
Buenos Aires, the Palermo neighborhoods
Fort Lauderdale, the beaches & bars
Las Vegas, any hotel room
Madrid, the Chueca neighborhood
Mykonos, Elia Beach
Paris, the Marais

Best Gay Bar in the World
The Abbey, Los Angeles
Exit, Amsterdam
Heaven, London
Le Drugstore, Montreal
Sidetrack, Chicago
The Week, Rio & Sao Paulo

The Gay+ Award for Achievement in Making our World Gayer
Richard Gray
"Richard Gray Consulting"