The late American lesbian feminist and author Susan Sontag once said of travel: “I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” 

A new Canadian study has found that many Canadian queers also have everywhere on their travel to-do lists, with research showing gays and lesbians spend almost twice as much as straight people annually on travel. 

This is obvious to anyone who’s ever tried to lift the Spartacus International Gay Guide. I’ve been using it to up my bench press. 

Protean Strategies conducted the second such study of queer Canadians for Travel Gay Canada (TGC) and found that gays spend $7 billion annually and spent an average of $1,131 per trip last year, compared to $597 for straight people. 

The study also found that gay Canadians travel more frequently and plan to continue travelling as often.  TGC’s Darrell Schuurman said, “Gay travellers... spend more per trip and are more likely to travel in the off-season than the mainstream market.”   

The top destinations for Canadian queers will be no surprise: in Canada, gays hit Toronto first, then Montreal and Vancouver.  Strangely, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, did not make the list.

Schuurman told Xtra the top American destinations are New York City, Las Vegas and San Francisco. Internationally, queers also love the standards: London, Paris and Barcelona. 

However, a 2010 Out Now global study found that Latin America is the largest up-and-coming gay destination. The region is home to more than 25 million queers, according to Global Travel Industry News. 

The 2010 TripOut Gay Travel Awards voted Rio de Janeiro the sexiest travel spot on earth (it’s where I met my husband, so I’ll have to agree), and Puerto Vallarta is now the number-one travel destination for queer Canadians. 

Madrid Pride scooped TripOut’s award for best annual gay destination party or event, and Toronto took the prize for best breakout destination, beating Reykjavik, Tel Aviv, Dallas and Siem Reap. 

Move over, Mykonos and Barcie, because this last entry, a tiny Cambodian city of fewer than 200,000, is reportedly the hottest new global gay spot. 

What does a Pride parade on the Rock look like? Check out this video from Corner Brook, Newfoundland, this past weekend:

YouTube user dannyvision1 caught much of the festival on video, and there are great photos by Tom Cochrane in this Flickr set.

As far as I can tell, there's one last Pride festival in Canada this year: Peterborough Pride runs Sept 17-25. 

>> Check out Xtra's 2010 Pride coverage 

If you're in Ottawa for Capital Pride, Xtra has the most complete list of events in our Ultimate Pride Guide! Events kick off today, leading up to the Pride parade and closing parties on Sunday, Aug 29.

One event isn't going ahead as originally planned: a party celebrating both the newly renovated Bank St and the opening of Pride Week. The Bank Street Business Improvement Area (BIA) put the kibosh on it, first changing the date, then eventually cancelling the event entirely.

The BIA is quietly distributing material to counter claims that it acted inappropriately when it cancelled the party. However, documents obtained by Xtra contradict the BIA’s claims, and those close to the event question the authenticity of a letter the BIA is distributing as evidence.

Who made the biggest splash at the Montreal Pride parade this weekend? Well, the city's grande dame of drag, Mado, soared above the crowd in a basket crane. Watch a clip of parade highlights via YouTube, and check out Mado's contingent at the 9:20 mark:

On Sunday, Fredericton kicked off a week of Pride events with the city's first Pride parade. Pic below via bbnerd on Flickr:

Xtra's Nick Logan recently reported on the efforts of the growing Fredericton Pride committee:

A group of approximately 30 people attended the June 14 council meeting, where Mayor Brad Woodside initially skipped over the issue, but Woodside later realized the error and asked council to make a motion and vote on it, which they did unanimously. "I think it was a done deal before it even came up on the agenda, personally," says Debi Skidmore, co-chair of the 2010 Pride committee.

Fredericton Pride wanted to hold a parade last year, McAdam says, but instead opted for a "Random Acts of Kindness" day, with members of the local queer community doing odd jobs for free in the downtown area. That event was cancelled on the day, due to bad weather and low volunteer turnout.  

In the '90s, members of Fredericton Lesbians and Gays brought Mayor Woodside to a provincial human rights tribunal over his refusal to declare Pride Week: 

At the time, Woodside argued his faith and his right to freedom of speech exempted him from having to proclaim Pride Week, and that "sex had no place in the council chambers."

In 2009, the mayor said he has gone through a "personal maturation" process, adding that he has come to appreciate the diversity in his city's population.

"We change with time," Woodside said, in a telephone interview with Xtra, "and change is for the better."

Also in New Brunswick this month: Saint John's Port City Rainbow Pride is back on, after a hiatus in 2009. Moncton Pride starts next week.

Pride in New Brunswick:

Fredericton. Aug 8-15. Parade: Aug 8. Frederictonpride.org.

Moncton. Aug 15-22. Parade: Aug 22. Fiertemonctonpride.ca.

Saint John. Aug 6-15. Parade: Aug 14. Portcityrainbowpride.com.