Type Private Website www.mygaytrip.com | Headquarters Paris, France | |
Industry Travel services, Social network Founded Paris, France, 2010 (2010) Founder Matthieu Jost
Marc Dedonder | ||
myGayTrip is a travel and lifestyle website aimed primarily at gay and lesbian travelers. It was founded in 2010 by French entrepreneurs, Matthieu Jost and Marc Dedonder. By 2012, the website was earning 80,000 unique visitors each month.
Contents
History
myGayTrip was founded as a joint venture between Matthieu Jost, Marc Dedonder, and Têtu, a French magazine for gay men. The site was launched as a response to the relative dearth of gay-friendly travel websites and, in particular, the closure of Attitude Travel in 2011. myGayTrip, Têtu, and Têtu Travels (a subsidiary travel agency under Têtu) have all worked closely to provide an improved travel experience for those in the LGBT community, but the partnership has since ended.
In 2011, the website achieved a milestone of 50,000 unique visitors per month and 11,000 followers on Facebook. By 2013, those numbers had increased to over 100,000 and 50,000 respectively. The number of destinations and places featured in myGayTrip increased from 15,000 to 20,000 between 2012 and 2013. Also in 2013, myGayTrip entered into a partnership with short-term apartment rental website, Sejourning, to create Misterbnb, a gay-friendly homestay service similar to Airbnb.
Overview
The website is designed as a travel guide that is similar in style to TripAdvisor. Users participate in rating and commenting on certain establishments and places, including hotels, bars, restaurants, beaches, and more. The site also offers city guides and a full social networking experience. The goal is to provide in-depth information about locales that are gay-friendly and/or accepting of the gay community (including a poll that asks users to rank the most gay-friendly cities in the world). Co-founders, Jost and Dedonder, are attempting to make gay-friendly establishments more accessible and obvious to gay travelers by providing multi-colored logos to participating establishments. The website also offers news that is relevant to gay tourism, travel, and other LGBT topics.