Richard Gray

Richard Gray has been one of the most active, visionary innovators in the international LGBTQ+ travel community for over 30 years. He is internationally credited as the hotelier who put Fort Lauderdale on the map for gay travellers around the world. Born in London, with homes in Poole, UK, and Fort Lauderdale, he moved to New York in 1982 as an investment banker. Despite seeing an opportunity in the travel industry, his career in Wall Street kept him in New York – and the AIDS crisis kept him focused on other priorities such as volunteering for the Gay Men’s Health Crisis. Having witnessed horrific discrimination – even from parents whose sons were dying – Richard, deeply moved by what he had seen and grateful to have escaped the crisis, became determined to make a difference. He has been named among the 100 most influential LGBTQ+ people in the United States by Out magazine.