Navigaytour Launches Gay and Lesbian Guide for the Big Easy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts:
Jennifer Day or Jenn Lotz                                                           Jonathan Morein
New Orleans CVB                                                                       Altus Agency
504-566-5019                                                                             215-977-9900 x10 (direct)
jday@neworleanscvb.com                                                        215-565-5377 (cell)
jlotz@neworleanscvb.com

Navigaytour Launches Gay and Lesbian Guide for the Big Easy
The New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) partners with Altus Agency to produce the ultimate LGBT guide to New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS –September 2, 2010 – The Navigaytour, an official gay and lesbian destination guide for New Orleans, will launch just in time for the 39th Annual Southern Decadence Festival, which welcomes on average 100,000 attendees for the Labor Day weekend events.

The 32-page guide highlights the many unique and historical offerings that New Orleans has to recommend to the gay and lesbian community including events, attractions, restaurants, bars, clubs, accommodations and the unique neighborhoods that make up the city.

“New Orleans is once again pleased to partner with the Navigaytour, another way we welcome our LGBT visitors to the city,” said Kim Priez, Vice President of Tourism Sales for the New Orleans CVB. “We invite everyone come to New Orleans, celebrate our culture and rejoice in a city where you can truly be yourself.”

The 2010 guide is almost entirely redesigned to address the diversity of the gay and lesbian community and reflects the changing needs of the gay and lesbian community. This year, the Navigaytour guide features the first-ever Gay History Trail Map for New Orleans, satisfying interest in gay culture and providing younger generations with a sense of history, accomplishments and contributions that the gay community has provided to the city.

“From the CVB to the individual advertisers, New Orleans understands that the gay and lesbian travel market is strong and essential to their success,” said David Jefferys, publisher of the Navigaytour guide. “As a whole, the city embraced the project and helped to make it a huge success.”

In addition to the printed guides, the Navigaytour guide is also available as an online flipbook. It can be found at www.navigaytour.com, neworleanscvb.com and gaycities.com. This year’s Southern Decadence Festival is September 1-6, 2010, in New Orleans. Please visit www.southerndecadence.com/ for more information on the festival.

The New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau. The New Orleans CVB is the driving catalyst for New Orleans’ largest industry – tourism – strategically leading national and international marketing, public relations and visitor services efforts that attract millions of visitors, events, conventions and festivals. Consistently recognized as one of the top five CVBs in the country, the New Orleans CVB is celebrating its 50^th anniversary in 2010. For more information, please visit www.neworleanscvb.com.

The Navigaytour and Altus Agency. The Navigaytour is produced by Altus Agency, which specializes in gay and lesbian marketing. In addition to New Orleans, Navigaytour produces guides for Philadelphia, Washington, Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago and Pittsburgh. Altus Agency broke into the gay marketing arena in 2002 with “Philadelphia: Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay,^™” the first-ever gay-advertising campaign for a U.S. destination. The campaign helped Philadelphia to rise from 21st to 11th most popular gay city in the United States and garnered millions of dollars in public relations value. For more information, visit www.altusagency.com.

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