In a competition organized by American Airlines in collaboration with gaycities.com, Tel Aviv won the title of the World’s Best Gay City of 2011. With 43% of the overall votes, Tel Aviv far outstripped New York in the number two position with 14%. Tel Aviv, which is renowned for its open and liberal LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual) society, hosts an annual Gay Pride Parade and other events which attract LGBT tourists from all over the world. The 2012 Gay Pride Parade, which will take place in Tel Aviv on Friday, June 8th 2012, is expected to attract over 100,000 attendees. Last year, over 5,000 tourists – from the UK, USA, Germany, Holland, France, Russia, and more – came to join the festivities in Tel Aviv, which included the first ever LGBT Film Festival.

In the past month, visitors to American Airline's website were asked to vote for the most popular gay city, taking into account the city with the most vibrant nightlife, best food, most interesting pride parades, best 'sand and sun' and a variety of other categories. The final results, published on www.gaycities.com, show that after Tel Aviv and New York, Toronto received 7%, San Pablo 6%, Madrid and London 5% each and New Orleans along with Mexico city 4% each.