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.
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“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.