International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association

The International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) is an international organization and a member-based global organization dedicated to LGBT tourism. In 2016, the association had a global presence with member businesses in more than 80 countries and global ambassadors in more than 22 countries.

History

Founded in 1983 by a dedicated group of 25 travel agents and hotel owners, IGLTA has expanded exponentially as LGBT rights and visibility have grown around the world. The original name was IGTA; the "L" was added in 1997. The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) was the first gay organization to receive affiliate member status in the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in November 2010.[1] In November 2015 the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association became an orgisational partner with the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)[2][3] In 2016 the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association was awarded the Winq Magazine Travel Award in London, UK.[4][5]

Governance

The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association's leadership includes President John Tanzella and Vice President Clark Massad. IGLTA's efforts are supported by two boards: the IGLTA Board of Directors,[6] which is the governing body for the association and oversees the organization's strategy and direction; the IGLTA Foundation Board of Directors,[7] which manages the foundation's finances and establishes official policies that govern the foundation.

Both boards operate by a standard of by laws.[8]

International Symposium and World Convention

The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) holds an annual world convention and four symposia in different tourism destinations around the world. The international symposium attracts more than 500 attendees, including destination CVB officials, travel agents, airline employees, hotel employees and tourism professionals. The foundation of IGLTA also sponsors scholarships for students to attend the international symposiums each year. Previous scholarships have been awarded to students from Brazil, Colombia, China, Curacao, Jamaica, Japan, Liberia, Norway, Peru, South Africa, Suriname, Spain and the United States.[9]

The 33rd Annual convention was hosted in Cape Town, Africa. The 36th Annual convention will be hosted in New York City, NY in 2019.[10]

Trump Controversy

On July 5, 2015, the IGLTA sent an email to its members announcing the addition of its newest member businesses. The email included three properties branded 'TRUMP': Trump SoHo New York, Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago and Trump International Hotel & Tower New York.[11]

This is not the first time the IGLTA has courted controversy by including Trump-branded properties. A Change.org petition dating to 2011 encouraged the organization to "Dump Trump Properties".

On July 7, 2017 The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association gave an official statement to Windy City Times, IGLTA President/CEO John Tanzella said, "IGLTA is a member-based travel association promoting LGBTQ friendly travel options. IGLTA also aims to support and educate businesses that want to better respond to the needs of LGBTQ clients. "The Trump branded properties which are current members of IGLTA (2017) are independently owned hotels and not owned by Mr. Trump." [12]

Donald Trump has spoken out against LGBT Rights and Same-Sex Marriage[13]. As President of the United States, he was the first President since George W. Bush to not acknowledge June as Pride Month.[14]

Few people have expressed concern surrounding the topic but despite the differences between the President of the United States and non-affiliated privately owned Hotel LGBTQ friendly travel accommodations. On June 20, Trump's Chicago hotel was briefly illuminated in rainbow colors, presumably in recognition of Pride celebrations the following weekend.[15] NBC 5 tweeted a photo of the display. [16]

Awards

Award recipients from each International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association's Annual convention.[17]

1994 Washington, DC, USA

IGLTA Hall of Fame Award

1996 Sydney, NSW, Australia

1999 Minneapolis, USA

Chair Award

1997 Philadelphia, PA, USA

IGLTA Hall of Fame Award

Chair Award

Chair Award

1998 Montreal, QC, Canada

IGLTA Hall of Fame Award

Chair Award

2001 Munich, Germany

Chair Award

2002 Fort Lauderdale, USA

Chair Award

2003 Manchester, UK

IGLTA Hall of Fame Award

Chair Award

2004 Vancouver, Canada

IGLTA Hall of Fame Award

Chair Award

2006 Washington, DC, USA

IGLTA Hall of Fame Award

2008 Las Vegas, NV, USA

IGLTA Hall of Fame Award

Chair Award

2009 Toronto, Canada

IGLTA Hall of Fame Award

2010 Antwerp, Belgium

IGLTA Hall of Fame Award

Chair Award

Community Award

Corporate Award

Pioneer Award

Innovator Award

Networking Award

2011 Fort Lauderdale, USA

IGLTA Hall of Fame Award

Chair Award

Community Award

Corporate Award

Pioneer Award

Innovator Award

Networking Award

2012 Florianopolis, Brazil

IGLTA Hall of Fame Award

Chair Award

Community Award

Pioneer Award

Travel Writer Award

2013 Chicago, IL, USA

The Hanns Ebensten Hall of Fame Award

Chair Award

Community Award

Pioneer Award

Travel Writer Award

2014 Madrid, Spain

The Chair Award

Community Award

Pioneer Award

Media Honor Award

Ambassador Award

2015 Los Angeles, CA, USA

The Chair Award

Hanns Ebensten Hall of Fame Award

Destination Pioneer

LGBT Event Pioneer

Community Honor

Networking

Travel Writer

Ambassador of the Year

2016 Cape Town Africa

The Chair Award

IGLTA Community Honor

IGLTA Networking Honor

IGLTA Ambassador of the Year

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/9789284414581
  2. ↑ https://www.pata.org/pata-signs-organisational-partnership-with-iglta/
  3. ↑ http://www.traveldailynews.asia/news/article/59805/iglta-conducts-successful-lgbt-outreach
  4. ↑ "The Travel Award 2016: International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) - winq.". winq. 2016-12-07. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  5. ↑ http://www.travelpulse.com/news/destinations/iglta-receives-travel-award-from-london-lgbt-magazine.html
  6. ↑ "Board of Directors - IGLTA - Gay & Lesbian Travel - LGBT". www.iglta.org. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  7. ↑ https://www.iglta.org/foundation-board-of-directors/
  8. ↑ https://www.iglta.org/media/889157/iglta_by-laws.pdf
  9. ↑ http://ftnnews.com/other-news/30711-2017-tourism-scholarships-for-future-leaders-in-lgbt-travel.html
  10. ↑ http://www.travelweekly.com/North-America-Travel/IGLTA-event-make-New-York-debut-2019
  11. ↑ Horbelt, Stephan (5 July 2017). "The World's Leading LGBTQ Travel Network Just Welcomed Trump Hotels to Its Ranks". Unicorn Booty. UnicornBooty. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  12. ↑ Windy City Magazine Group http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/m/APParticle.php?AID=59733&i=1&s=. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ↑ "Donald Trump’s Big Gay Problem". Mother Jones.
  14. ↑ Villarreal, Daniel (7 June 2017). "Trump Is Celebrating Pride Month by Speaking at an Anti-LGBTQ Conference". Unicorn Booty. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  15. ↑ http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Trump-properties-included-on-IGLTAs-LGBTQ-friendly-list-/59733.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. ↑ https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2017/06/trump-hotel-lit-rainbow-colors-pride-not-long/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. ↑ https://www.iglta.org/past-awards/
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