A new study shows concerns over safety for LGBTQI+ travellers, with more than half surveyed admitting to hiding their sexuality while overseas.
The research by Welcome With Pride in consultation with LGBTQI+ communities across Australia, shows there’s a widening gap between rainbow symbolism and genuine safety, with 60% of travellers changing their behaviour in order to avoid discrimination, such as avoiding affection in public, checking in separately, or minimising conversations about partners, families, or identities.
Charlie Douty, founder and director of Welcome With Pride, a training platform, says when LGBTQI+ communities travel, they are constantly second-guessing how gay, or how trans, they can be. This is where those in the tourism and travel industry have a role to play, embracing evidence-based approaches to support LGTBQI+ travellers rather than symbolic gestures, such as what Welcome with Pride offers.
“Welcome With Pride exists so that we can choose businesses that support us,” explains Douty. “We exist so that we feel that powerful feeling of belonging when we know we are understood, respected and celebrated for who we truly are.”
Among those who have already worked with Welcome with Pride’s tourism training and accreditation platform is Accor’s Australian properties, as well as Hilton, Destination New South Wales, and Tourism Western Australia.
Being accredited pays off for business too, with research showing that 96% of LGBTQI+ travellers prefer to book accredited experiences. Agents can find information on accredited experiences and accommodations HERE.
. . . Caution
And while there are destinations such as Australia where moves are being made to increase the feeling of safety and inclusivity for LGBTQI+ travellers, there are still places where the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade says caution is needed.
It recommends agents planning LGBTQI+ travel look to Human Dignity Trust’s Map of Jurisdictions that Criminalise LGBTQ+ People, found HERE, as well as Human Rights Watch’s Map of Anit-LGTBQ+ Laws, found HERE. General advice can also be found HERE.
