Why is Pride Month important for Hospitality?

What is Pride Month?

Pride Month celebrates LGBTIQ culture, representation, and rights within our community throughout the month of June. It is celebrated in June to recognise the 1969 Stonewall uprising in Manhattan, USA (scroll down to read more about this historical event).

Pride Month is about creating inclusivity, amplifying voices that have been silenced throughout history, and reassuring our community that you can feel safe being who you are. It is also a vibrant, colourful, peaceful, and festive way to combat intolerance.

From an economical perspective, Neilsen have reportedthat the Australian LGBTIQ community are much more likely to be affluent and spend money on premium products and services. One of the top three influences on their decision to purchase is that the company is LGBTIQ supportive.

History has shown that the LGBTIQ community have led the way in rebooting the tourism and travel industries as avid consumers. The LGBTIQ community has proven to support the hospitality industry, yet in 2020 Statista reported only2.3% of the industry identifying as being part of the LGBTIQ community. While you might feel our industry has come far, we believe we could go further.

When your employees feel they are in a safe and inclusive environment they are more likely to:

• take initiative
• demonstrate higher emotional intelligence
• offer creative solutions and different perspectives

If you introduce more inclusive work practices into your workplace, you could see an increase in:

• employees feel comfortable sharing more about their identity
• qualified hires from more diverse backgrounds as unconscious biases decrease

Not only could it support your hotel to achieve greater success and improve company culture, but it can lead to a ripple effect as your company supports a cultural shift for increased inclusivity within the wider community.

Show your support for your LGBTIQ community this month by:

• Adding your preferred pronouns to your LinkedIn profile
• Share a post on LinkedIn to support Pride month
• Add a rainbow background to your virtual meetings
• Support Pride month with your email signature banners
• Ask to write a blog for your company on Pride month
• Host a morning tea to show your Pride

The Stonewall riots were a turning point for the gay liberation movement, an inspiring story of continued raids on a bar, and safe haven, for the gay community at the time, the Stonewall Inn. It led to ongoing demonstrations after one raid triggered onlookers to riot against the treatment of some of the patrons by authorities. We encourage you to research and find out more about this pivotal moment in LGBTIQ history.

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ahs hospitality is an equal opportunities employer and support our LGBTIQ community. We welcome all cultures, all religions, all colours, all beliefs, all ages, all sizes, all types, all people. If you would like to share our belief in creating an inclusive workplace then apply with us today.