Rio de Janeiro  - The Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro is known in Portuguese as the Cidade Maravilhosa, or Wonderful City in English. But it is now one title richer after it was awarded the Best Global Destination for gays at a tourism trade fair.

The city's authorities have welcomed the award as in recent weeks the reputation of the host city of the 2016 Olympic Games has been badly tarnished by stories of violence and drug criminality in its slums, the favelas.

The award was announced by the gay and lesbian TV channel Logo, a unit of the MTV cable network, a day after Rio's 14th Gay Parade Festival at a tourist trade fair in Boston. Also in the running for the title were Buenos Aires, Barcelona, London, Montreal and Sydney.

Over 100,000 votes were cast by visitors to the internet portal TripOutGayTravel. com to decide who would win out. Rio's Mayor Eduardo Paes is very happy with the outcome as he says it recognises Brazilian hospitality to all visitors: "It's wonderful and I'm proud to be mayor of a city that respects differences."

Rio's tourist sector is hoping the 2014 World Cup soccer finals and the Olympic Games will help attract even more visitors but they are also expecting more gay holidaymakers. According to official figures last year 1.7 million foreign tourists came to Rio, about 100,000 less than in 2004.

The Riotur tourist association has adopted the Portuguese word for welcome - Bemvindo - as its slogan as a reminder that Cariocas, as Rio residents are called, "live in harmony without regard to race, religion or sexual orientation."

It is quite normal to see both male and female couples holding hands on Rio's streets. "What I like about Rio is that I don't have to go to a gay bar. Rio is very open and we are accepted for what we are. No-one cares about another person's sexual orientation," says Seppo Suomela from Finland.

Suomela is a travel correspondent and came to Rio in 2003 to photograph the city's Samba schools as part of a report for a Philippine magazine. Two years later he moved to Brazil.

"We gays like parties and there are plenty of them in Rio," says Jayme Rezende. He points out that during Rio's carnival thousands of transvestites take to Rio's streets and the Sambadromo. New Year's Eve is also another time when hundreds of thousands of white-clad people gather together. A section of the world famous Ipanema beach is also a traditional gathering place for gays.

Flying on the beach is the symbol of gay pride, the rainbow flag, while just a stone's throw away is the Rua Farme de Amoedo, "the most gay street in the city," as it was described in TripOutGayTravel. com.

The website rates Rio as "gay-tastic" and says homosexuals are "very welcome" in Rio. Last September the US magazine Forbes ranked Rio as among the top 50 "happiest cities" in the world.

However, that happened before the recent outbreak of gang-related violence in the Rio's streets which led to fatalities. In some of the 1,000 favelas in Rio there are daily shooting incidents and tourists are warned not to go there. (dpa)