The Nepal Weekly 
April 23, 2024
The first International Rainbow Tourism Conference was held on in Kathmandu on April 20 with Nepal offering itself as a safe and respectful destination in South Asia for the sexual minority community. This pioneer event organized by Mayako Pahichan Nepal in collaboration with Nepal Tourism Board marked a significant milestone in promoting diversity and inclusivity within the tourism industry.
The conference, sponsored by the World Bank, USAID, and several prominent private sector stakeholders in Nepal, was aimed at creating an environment of acceptance and understanding in tourism related to the LGBT community. The international conference was inaugurated by Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Bhagawati Chaudhary who underlined the need to forge collaboration among different stakeholders to promote LGBT tourism in Nepal. She said that so far, 3,100 people belonging to the LGBT community have been formally registered in Nepal, although the exact number of people belonging to the community is much higher than that. “Forget Nepal’s biased history. Now, we aim at building more just and equitable societies. Let the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex or queer (LGBTIQ) get equal economic opportunity,” remarked Sunil Babu Pant, the first gay Parliament Member in Asia, addressing the conference in Kathmandu.
Keynote speeches, panel discussions, and workshops covering a wide range of topics, including LGBTI+ travel, accessible tourism, cultural sensitivity, and community engagement were featured during the conference. The participants share best practices, exchange ideas, and forge partnerships to drive positive change in the tourism sector. EU Ambassador in Nepal Veronique Lorenzo expressed that Nepal being LGBTQ friendly country, has great prospects to attract tourists as compared to other LGBTQ non-friendly Asian countries. Nepal visioned itself to be a favorable destination wedding and honeymoon vacation place for LGBTQ community from its two big neighbors along with other countries. Sean Howell, founder of Hornet company targeting LGBTQ community shared global statistics about LGBTQ market. There is USD 202 billion global spend by LGBT travelers, which can be tapped by countries to make their tourism industry LGBTQ friendly and open queer destination.
Diane Anderson-Minshall, CEO and chief storyteller of GO Magazine, in her presentation titled ‘LGBTI Tourism Global Overview and its Contribution to the Economy’, said that LGBTIQ or pink tourism are the segments of travelers that have a lot of wealth and purchasing power. Nandini Lahe-Thapa, director of the Nepal Tourism Board, said, “For Nepal’s tourism industry, the LGBTIQ conference is a triumph as this is one of the most important market segments that we have yet to tap.” By Pratima Sapkota
