MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina’s first gay-lesbian cruise leaves Buenos Aires December 2011

MSC Opera with its 2.000 passenger capacity

Argentina’s first official gay ‘Ego’ cruise will leave the port of Buenos Aires December 2011 and will be calling at Uruguay’s capital Montevideo and the international resort of Punta del Este, it was announced by organizers in the Argentine capital.

”Ego is the first cruise for gays and lesbians in Latin America (¿?)“ said Jorge Giorno, who owns the Thesys organizing firm. He noted demand was ”very high“ since Argentina passed a measure in July legalizing gay marriage.

The ultra-modern MSC Opera with a 2.000 passenger capacity will host the four-night cruise. The vessel is 220 meters long and features 1,000 rooms, seven bars, four restaurants, a casino, a discotheque, a 713 seat theatre and four swimming pools.

”We are getting calls from around the world“ said Giorno, ten months ahead of the December 12 departure for Punta del Este and Montevideo.

Buenos Aires is considered a prime location for the gay community. The tourism bureau estimates that 18% of Argentina's tourism revenue comes from goods and services tailored for gays and lesbians.

Argentina's gay law amended the phrase ”husband and wife“ to ”contracting parties” in the Civil Code. It also extends equal rights to homosexual couples in matters of adoption, inheritance and social benefits.

However this will not be the first gay cruise to Argentina since Atlantis Cruises has been a pioneer into this route in the past linking Buenos Aires with Rio de Janeiro for 2 consecutive years. But the Ego Gay Cruise will be the first Argentinean flagged gay cruise to sail away.

This first experience from Buenos Aires is expected to be repeated along the 2011/12 season and is sponsored by the Gay-lesbian commerce chamber of Argentina, with the support from Argentina’s Ministry of Tourism, Buenos Aires City Tourism Office, Delta Air Lines, Aerolíneas Argentinas and Axel Hotels.