Tiny Scots seaside town revealed as UK’s new gay and lesbian hotspot
A SCOTS town has been labelled as the UK’s new must-visit gay and lesbian destination.
The unlikely town recently reinvented itself as a hotspot for LGBT tourists.
Oban, about two hours’ drive from Glasgow, has 8,500 residents and little in the way of nightclubs or stylish bars.
Now the town has been hailed as an “unlikely queer hotspot” by Diva, the world’s most popular lesbian magazine, reports the Times.
It’s come after the town began hosting one of the country’s largest lesbian events.
The growing popularity of the event means that all the town’s seafront hotels, its youth hostel, campsite and self-catering apartments have been block booked for September’s gathering.
The magazine’s founder, Maz Gordon, who started the events in 2022 says this year they expect more than 350 people attending.
She added: “When I launched the Oban Lesbian Weekend in 2022 I expected around 30 women, but 130 turned up.
“This year we expect more than 350 guests.”
“There are a lot of affluent professionals who are bringing their pink pounds up to Oban,”
“There are four or five hotel suites, which are £2,000 each for the weekend, and they are booked out every year.
“This year we have a lot of Australians coming and we’ve already received bookings from two groups of women from America for 2026.”
Gordon moved out of Oban when she went to university in Aberdeen as a teenager. She spent time in London and Brighton while working for LGBT media organisations but moved back to her hometown five years ago.
She added: “So many of my friends said they would love to come up and visit me in Oban – now half of Brighton is coming up here.
“There are not many lesbian events where people can see seals, castles, dolphins and minke whales and take part in alcoholic and non-alcoholic whisky tastings,” she said. “People are blown away by the beauty of the town and the area.”
While other LGBT events revolve around clubbing and drinking, the Oban Lesbian Weekend offers wild swimming, kayaking, hiking, a wildlife mini-cruise, a boat trip to the Isle of Mull, Scottish music and dancing and seafood brunches.
While the town has no official gay or lesbian bars, LGBT visitors tend to gather in the cocktail bar of the seafront Perle Oban Hotel and the nearby Oban Bay Hotel.
The town has hosted an LGBT+ Pride event for the past six years. In the most recent census almost one in ten of the community’s 4,500 residents identified as being LGBT.
Phill Dexter, the chairman of the event, said. “However, Oban Pride has grown with nearly 600 people in 2024. We have people from all over the world travelling to join us.”
The success of the events contributed to Oban being named Scotland’s town of the year for 2024.
Andy Spence, chief executive of the business group Bid4Oban, said: “We now have a vibrant town centre with events that benefit locals and visitors”.