As a diverse community, the LGBTIQ+ collective is more likely to travel to destinations where acceptance, freedom, inclusion, safety and respect are recognized and guaranteed values for all.
Through this project, the Ethnic Association seeks to improve the strategic link between the tourism sector and the LGBTIQ+ group in order to move towards an inclusive tourism model free of prejudice and discrimination.
Barcelona has a diverse and plural population that attracts many LGBTIQ+ tourists throughout the year. Various studies point out that musical and protest events such as Pride or the Circuit Festival , the climate, urban cultural heritage and gastronomy are the main pull factors of the destination. At the same time, security, legal recognition of same-sex couples, tolerance and respect are added to these characteristics.
It is clear that LGBTIQ+ tourists and their allies travel to tourist destinations where they feel safe, respected, valued, and where the rights and freedoms of their community (and their people) are guaranteed Despite everything, while it is true that Barcelona has always demonstrated a faithful commitment to the LGBT group, the increase and the proliferation of LGTBIphobic attitudes and behaviors remains something to worry about by the local community and, consequently, by the tourists who visit the city.
The concept of “inclusive tourism” implies that the most marginalized sectors of the dominant economy see their opportunities to access tourism expanded, either as producers or as final consumers. To meet this challenge, it is necessary for the sector to work from the perspective of gender diversity and intersectionality to favor the participation and empowerment of the LGBTIQ+ group, a community that year after year sees how its number increases members and allies.
Addressing these issues from the tourist organizations is something fundamental to induce a large-scale change. It is necessary to ensure that the various agents in the sector, be it hotels, travel agencies, tourist guides, leisure companies, cultural facilities, etc., know how to manage diversity within their own organizations and that their involvement with the LGBT group go beyond a few dates marked on the calendar.
Managing diversity, incorporating the gender perspective and operating under the prism of intersectionality must make it possible to build safe spaces for everyone, both for workers in the sector, as well as for visitors and the local community.
In order to move towards a socially responsible tourism model, Aethnic promotes an innovative project whose general objective is to train and strengthen the different agents involved in the tourism activity of the district of Sant Martí to contribute to the transformation of the tourism fabric towards the inclusion of the LGBTIQ+ group.
To achieve it, the Aethnic team has established the following specific objectives :
Access the Project Presentation to learn about the actions and expected results.
Project localization:
Barcelona
Project schedule:
2023 - 2024