Ane Amondarain and Laura de Grado | Madrid – January 22, 2023
travel from safe waywith packages specially designed for LGTBI people and that there is more presence of women in leadership positions in the tourism sector are some of the demands in terms of diversity and gender perspective that this edition of 2023 Featureswhich is held in Madrid from January 18 to 22.
“I look for the destination we go to is safe because there are many places where being LGTBI is still punishable or frowned upon,” says Sara, a 23-year-old girl who has attended the 43rd edition of the Fitur tourism fair in search of similar places and spaces to travel to. .
Today, in 69 countries, homosexuality remains a crime punishable by imprisonment, economic sanctions, or the death penalty, according to Human Rights Watch.
As an LGTBI woman, Sara admits that there are many countries that she would not go to, or at least not for a trip as a couple.
That is precisely the goal of Traveling Dykesa travel agency for lesbian, bisexual, transgender, LBTIQ+ or “lesbian friendly” women that was born two years ago from the need of the creator to travel accompanied and to cover this market niche.
The LGTB segment represents the 10% of tourists worldwide and accumulates 16% of total travel spending, which is equivalent to almost 200,000 million euros a year in spending, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.
safe tourism
With this premise, Bolleras Viajeras, which is participating for the first time in Fitur, offers travel in a group, alone, as a couple or as a family that make it possible to meet people outside of the conventional entertainment of discotheques, Tinder or nightlife and “travel to destinations that they cannot go to alone because it is more difficult or more insecure”, the founder and director, Marta Borrachero Villar, told Efeminista.
“We seek safe destinations because there is a double danger for being a woman and for being lesbian or bisexual”, explains Borrachero.
His clients are usually lesbian and bisexual women between the ages of 35 and 50, from all parts of Spain, adds the founder of Bolleras Viajeras, which offers international destinations such as Peru, Cuba, Croatia, Jordan, Greece or Italy; and national options such as the carnival of Cádiz or the pride in Barcelona or Madrid.
LGTBI travel advice
In the same vein arises The queer travelwhich in addition to offering safe destinations and nightlife and culture dedicated to the LGTBI community, provides advice.
“We advise LGTBI people about the trips they can make in certain safe destinations and also to other destinations, where homosexuality may not be allowed, and the risks they run if they want to go”, explains Antonio Pablo Herrero, tourist adviser.
Herrero reports that most of his clients are men, between 30 and 55 yearsSpaniards who want to travel to national and international destinations, but also many foreigners, especially North Americans, who come to Spain, the Canary Islands, Barcelona and Madrid.
In the capital, for example, The queer travel offers a cultural visit to Chueca, in which they tell the history of the neighborhood and its development through the community. “They are parts of the history of the cities that are not told, but that are part of society, in this way we can also give a voice to the community by telling our own”, he highlights.
Routes, women and heritage
Also related to national tourism, the Women’s Association for Dialogue and Education It proposes routes that combine history and the recovery of forgotten female historical figures.
«From our association, we consider that it should be review history and value the thousands of women who have done it”, argues Giovanna Calderón, its president. That is why they decided to create the web page “Women in Spain’s World Heritage”, where the proposed routes to visit the 49 UNESCO sites that Spain has throughout the country, from a gender perspective.
They thus sought to create products for women, because as Calderon indicates, “65% of single travelers are women”. And besides, the local tourism it is always “interesting in times of crisis”, adds Calderón.
Likewise, with the aim of promoting initiatives that work to achieve real equality between men and women, the association has been delivering the awards Tourism Women Friendly.
In this fifth edition, the award has gone to the island of La Gomera (Canary Islands), for the work of island women for the conservation of their land, and for the Puy du Fou theme park in Toledofor representing historical moments and paying attention to female characters.
Women in the tourism sector
And it is that women are not only underrepresented in the patrimony, but also in the business management areas of the tourism sector.
Well, despite the fact that the travel and tourism sector employs 54% of women, it hardly 5% of them hold CEO positions within the industry, according to the organization of Woman feature.
A section focused on analyzing the role of women in the world of work in the tourism industry and claiming the need to boost female leadership in the reconstruction of sustainable and inclusive tourism, and which brought together all its activities on Wednesday, January 19, the opening day of the fair.
For its part, the section LGBT+ features It has a wide variety of talks, presentations and activities that can be enjoyed during the weekend in pavilion number three.
