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Atlantis Events

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LGBT vacation company
Atlantis Events
Company typeLGBT travel
IndustryLGBT tourism
Founded1991
HeadquartersWest Hollywood, California, US
Key peopleRich Campbell (CEO and co-founder)
Productscruises, resorts, related products
Websiteatlantisevents.com
Photo of a large crowd men at party
Party on the Oasis of the Seas during an Atlantis Events Mediterranean cruise in August 2019

Atlantis Events is an LGBT vacation company that provides LGBT cruises and resort vacations. A 2017 book on LGBT tourism described it as "the most successful LGBT tour operator in the world". Their vacations are designed and marketed primarily for gay men.

History

Atlantis Events was founded in 1991 to organize resort vacations, beginning with an event at the Club Med resort at Playa Blanca in Costa Careyes, Jalisco, Mexico. The company began chartering cruise ships in 1998. In October 2007, Atlantis acquired competitor RSVP Vacations from RSVP's parent company, PlanetOut.

The company's tours have sometimes experienced negative reactions from anti-gay officials at their destinations. In December 1997, an Atlantis Events cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line's MS Leeward was denied permission make a planned February 1998 stop at Grand Cayman. Caymanian official Thomas C. Jefferson wrote to the cruise line that the cruise's passengers would not "uphold the standards of appropriate behavior expected of visitors". The ship docked in Belize instead. In September 2000, Turkish police blocked Atlantis guests from visiting the Aegean resort town Kuşadası, after the ship was already docked.

Destinations

Typical cruise itineraries for Atlantis are to the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, the Pacific coast of Mexico, and Australia. Typical locations for land resort vacations are Mexico and the Caribbean. Other destinations – which have included cruises in areas such as Alaska, Asia, and the Baltic, and land vacations in Las Vegas and Kenya – are offered less frequently.

Incidents

  • January 2013 – The United States Justice Department opens an investigation into Atlantis Events after guests alleged the company failed to provide accommodations for participants with disabilities. In 2018, Atlantis Events reached a settlement with the Justice Department, agreeing to pay civil damages and penalties, as well as developing appropriate accommodations for disabled passengers on its cruises.
  • January 2018 – Joel Taylor, a television personality who appeared on the Discovery Channel series, Storm Chasers, died of a drug overdose aboard Harmony of the Seas while sailing with an Atlantic Events charter.
  • January 2020 – A man was fatally injured when he jumped from the Atlantis Events-chartered Oasis of the Seas while the ship was docked in Puerto Rico.
  • January 2022 – A passenger died unexpectedly aboard the Atlantis Events' 30th Anniversary Cruise on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas.
  • January 2024 – A passenger died unexpectedly aboard Oasis of the Seas while undertaking an Atlantis Events' cruise.

See also

References

  1. Guaracino, Jeff; Salvato, Ed (2017). Handbook of LGBT Tourism and Hospitality: A Guide for Business Practice. New York: Columbia University Press. Section 3H. ISBN 978-1-939594-19-8.
  2. Shirley, John (March 10, 2007). "On This Love Boat, Anything Goes". Calgary Herald (Final ed.). p. F1 – via ProQuest.
  3. Van Gorder, Bryan (March 9, 2016). "Twenty-Five and Still Cruising". The Advocate.
  4. McElroy, Steven (April 10, 2015). "On a Gay Cruise, Just One of the Guys". The New York Times.
  5. Pae, Peter (October 12, 2008). "How I Made It: Rich Campbell; Gay Getaways' Go-to Guy". Los Angeles Times. p. C.2 – via ProQuest.
  6. Hilton, Spud (October 28, 2007). "Atlantis Purchases Rival Gay Line". South Florida Sun. p. 7 – via ProQuest.
  7. Hughes, Howard L. (2006). Pink Tourism: Holidays of Gay Men and Lesbians. Cambridge, Massachusetts: CABI. pp. 82–83. ISBN 978-1-84593-076-9.
  8. Mozingo, Joe; Clary, Mike (January 8, 1998). "Port's Refusal to Allow Gay Tour Sparks Outcry". Los Angeles Times (Home ed.). p. 3 – via ProQuest.
  9. Wade, Betsy (February 1, 1998). "Banned From Caymans, Gay Cruise Visits Belize". The New York Times. p. 5.3.
  10. Marquis, Christopher (September 7, 2000). "Turkish Police Bar Gay Americans From Visiting Aegean Port". The New York Times. p. A.6.
  11. Hughes, Howard L. (2006). Pink Tourism: Holidays of Gay Men and Lesbians. Cambridge, Massachusetts: CABI. pp. 98–99. ISBN 978-1-84593-076-9.
  12. Zonkel, Phillip (2018-02-21). "Atlantis Events, Justice Department reach settlement on Disabilities Act violations". Q Voice News. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
  13. Cooper, Mariah (2018-01-25). "'Storm Chasers' star Joel Taylor found dead on board gay cruise". www.washingtonblade.com. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
  14. "Florida Man Dies on Gay Atlantis Cruise After Jumping Overboard". www.advocate.com. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
  15. "Death Confirmed Onboard Atlantis Events' Oasis of the Seas Gay Cruise". www.advocate.com. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
  16. "Yet another passenger dies on world's biggest gay cruise". Yahoo News. 2024-01-30. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
  17. "Another person dies on Royal Caribbean Atlantis cruise". www.advocate.com. Retrieved 2024-12-13.

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