Hotels Look Beyond Pride to Court LGBTQ+ Travelers All Year
Photo Credit: Hotel companies are major supporters of Pride festivities (pictured: Capital Pride Festival 2017 in Washington, D.C.). But these companies know there are 11 more months in the year to support the LGBTQ community. Flickr / Ted Eytan
Skift Take
Pride and June may be over, but that doesn't mean companies get a pass to stay quiet on the LGBTQ+ support front. The hotel industry shows how to lead in outreach and inclusivity while avoiding "rainbow washing" critique tossed at companies that appear to talk out of both sides of their mouth.
The hospitality industry’s outreach to gay and lesbian travelers in the 1960s and 1970s was a clandestine affair, relying around guidebooks like Bob Damron’s Address Book or the Spartacus International Gay Guide to point members of the community to accepting hotels, bars, and other businesses.
Hotel courtship of the LGBTQ community today is significantly more transparent: Marriott and Hilton are just as present at Pride parades as they are in support of legal issues. Both companies signed onto an amicus brief in 2015 calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down bans on same-sex marriage. The Standard, High Line, in New York City kicked off Pride last weekend with a performance from longtime ally Madonna.
But the hotel industry also sees the “rainbow washing” backlash other industries got in recent years for tossing up a rainbow logo for the month of June but not doing much for the community — sometimes even donating to candidates who oppose LGBTQ rights — the rema
