The travel industry is embracing Pride Month this June, a period when
travel spend by the LGBT+ community soars across the globe.
Pride travellers are partying in pubs and parading down streets, giving a much-needed boost to hotels, bars and restaurants.
Airbnb says demand for home share accommodation peaks during the
Pride Month. In 2019, when Pride was last celebrated in-person, hosts
across the top 50 trending destinations – led by London, Paris and Rome -
collectively earned more than US$76 million during respective Pride
weekends.
Bangkok, for example, welcomed its first Pride March in 16 years on 5
June, while the 25m-high Dome of Love installation at Sathorn Square
has been decked with rainbow-inspired stripes to show solidarity with
the gay community.
Hotels in the city are also taking the opportunity to attract Pride
guests. For example, W Bangkok, on 25 June, will host W Drag Brunch,
serving up comfort food and performances by drag queens, and SO/ Bangkok
is organising a Pride Party on 18 June and art exhibition on 28 June in
celebration of the June Pride Month.
Along with Marriott International and Accor, Hilton and IHG Hotels
and Resorts are among other hotel groups offering attractive incentives
to the Pride community for stays during June.
Lufthansa adds a rainbow-coloured theme to its Lovehansa A320.
In the air, a Lufthansa Airbus A320neo operating in Europe has become “Lovehansa” for the next six months.
The plane’s livery has been embellished with the colours of the
rainbow, including rainbow-coloured hearts on the winglets and
rainbow-coloured seatback covers inside the aircraft.
Lufthansa said it is s a company that stands for “openness, diversity and understanding”.
The purpose of the commemorative month – which marks a 1969 police
raid on a gay bar in New York City which led to the Stonewall Riots - is
to recognise the positive impact that lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender individuals have had across communities and nations.