
AfriGay and EqualAfrica says Anti-LGBTIQ+ laws a threat to African tourism.
If members of the LGBTIQ+ community decide not to visit Africa out of concern for their safety, the continent could suffer a major loss in tourism earnings.
A report released at the Africa Travel Market event in Cape Town shows how nearly half of the 64 nations in the world that have laws against homosexuality are in Africa.
The report further states that before the Covid-19 pandemic, travelers who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer had more than R3.8 trillion in spending power, specifically with regard to travel.
However, because of the continent’s restrictive laws and attitudes against LGBTIQ+ persons, many are hesitant to travel there for fear of being detained or attacked.
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Kaya Biz with Gugulethu Mfuphi spoke to Michael Gladwin – president of AfriGay and EqualAfrica about how the anti-LGBTQ+ laws are a threat to tourism in the African continent.
LISTEN TO THE FULL CONVERSATION HERE:
Michael Gladwin shared a grim picture of the knock on effect the anti-LGBTQ+ laws will have on the tourism industry in the continent.
“I think everyone can agree that this is atrocious, the fact that this is taking us backwards when it comes to human rights. From a Tourism perspective, the general LGBTQ+ traveler is very diverse and isn’t one segment of that market.
The general trend of that market is that they want to travel to a place where they know that they will be safe, a that the will be protected by the law.
“The ripple effect for us her in South Africa and the African continent is huge, for the most part when the relatively rich LGBTQ+ community travels to Africa, they don’t just want to came to Cape Town for the beaches, they also want to see the rest of Africa as well as East Africa.” says Gladwin
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