How Booking.com is making it easier for everyone to show up as themselves and experience the world

Did you know that 1 in 3 members of the LGBTQ+ community fear judgment from hotel staff?

With more than 28 million accommodation listings in over 160,000 destinations worldwide, as well as attractions, cars and flights, Booking.com has made it their mission to make it easier for LGBTQ+ travellers to experience the world.

“At Booking.com, we believe everyone should be able to experience the world as themselves, always. Travel should ideally be all about positive experiences, adventure and enjoyment. Yet for many LGBTQ+ travellers, this can often be a very different reality, as a majority (82%) have experienced less than welcoming, or uncomfortable moments when travelling*,” says Arjan Dijk, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Booking.com.

Recognising the important role that properties play in providing a more inclusive experience, Booking.com began paving the way for everyone to Travel Proud with the launch of its free Proud Hospitality training programme in August 2021. More than 20,000 properties listed on Booking.com, including over 1,500 alone across Australia and New Zealand, are now being recognised for their inclusive hospitality efforts through a Travel Proud badge on

Booking.com. The badge has been awarded to accommodation partners that have completed the Travel Proud programme, a cross company training program that focuses on improving the experience the LGBTQ+ community have across the entire travel journey.

“There is still much work to do across the industry to make welcoming experiences the norm for everyone – no matter who they love, how they identify or where they come from.” – Arjan Dijk, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Booking.com

Booking.com was also proud to be a major partner and exclusive digital travel provider of Sydney WorldPride where they supported two key events at Sydney WorldPride – Pride Villages and the Human Rights Conference. “In addition to celebrating the revitalization of the Australian tourism sector, our sponsorship of Sydney WorldPride is a symbol of our continued investment in supporting rainbow communities everywhere and our commitment to enable truly inclusive travel experiences in even more places around the world,” says Dijk.

If you’re interested in learning more about Travel Proud, visit https://partner.booking.com/en-gb/proudcertified.