CARSON CITY, Nev. -- The Nevada Commission on Tourism (NCOT) has launched a website to meet the needs of the LGBT community, considered an increasingly lucrative and vibrant market within the travel industry.

The site, gay.travelnevada.com, offers information on LGBT-featured events, as well as information on Nevada's hotels, shows and amenities.

"The Nevada Commission on Tourism recognizes the importance of this vast market to Nevada's tourism industry," said Larry Friedman, NCOT interim director. "We continually expand and improve our efforts to reach potential visitors, and that is why we developed this new website that offers need-to-know information for the LGBT community."

The LGBT travel business amounts to $60 billion in the United States alone, according to Community Marketing Inc. (CMI) in San Francisco. A healthy portion of that business comes to Nevada -- Las Vegas is one of the top three U.S. destinations for LGBT travelers, according to CMI -- and NCOT seeks to maintain and build that LGBT market.

Features on the website include information on LGBT events such as Gay Days Las Vegas, Las Vegas Pride, Reno Gay Pride, Lake Tahoe Winterfest and the BigHorn Rodeo.

Website visitors also can get details on LGBT-friendly hotels and events, such as Las Vegas properties Aria Resort & Casino, Artisan Hotel and Aston MonteLago Village Resort, as well as Caesar's "carnival for grown-ups" show, "Absinthe."