3,000 Meliá employees to learn how to welcome LGBTQ+ tourists
17 August, 2022More than 3,000 Meliá Hotels International employees will receive Queers Destinations’ ‘Hospitality Meets Diversity’ training this year, which provides insight into the LGBTQ+ community and its consumer habits, as well as recommendations for improvements in diversity and inclusion management, human resources, operations and marketing.
Thanks to the training, a collection of hotels under the ME by Meliá brand will be certified with Queer Destinations Committed accreditation, a set of internationally recognised standards established by the IGLTA (International LGBTQ+ Tourism Association) that help equip companies and destinations with the knowledge required to optimally and safely welcome the LGBTQ+ segment, which represents 10% of the global tourism market.
“This agreement reaffirms our commitment to the continuous training of our teams and to design innovative and responsible strategies to deliver the best possible experiences for LGBTQ+ visitors and exceed their expectations”, declared Manuel Riego, Marketing Vice President de Meliá Hotels International.
Travel spending among LGBTQ+ tourists is estimated to exceed $200 trillion a year, and the community is expected to reach 180 million tourists by 2030, according to the World Tourism Organization.