If social media is your main source of information, then travel is all about beautiful people, beautiful landscapes and beautiful vibes.
But travel is also big business, worth an estimated US$11.1 trillion and representing roughly 10 percent of the global GDP. Sorry to bore you, but those Instagram selfies are made possible by an industry affected by everything from the cost of jet fuel, and the success or failure of one crop or another (avocado, coffee and chocolate, anyone?) to government policies, crime rates, natural disasters and memes (“Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday!”). We think we’re exercising our own free will, but then we find ourselves thinking, “Is everybody I know going to Japan this year and maybe I want to go, too?”
The travel industry has been in flux since the COVID shutdowns in 2020/2021. Then, in January 2025, Donald Trump took charge in his second term as president of the United States and we were suddenly in more flux. Deep, hardcore, brain-bending flux.
Much of this flux was terrible, as Trump’s anti-trans travel policies seemed to reflect a larger attitudinal shift toward trans rights, at least among a certain cohort of politicians. Finding the good news in this second Trump era will take time. But it will happen, as other destinations, governments, businesses and institutions ramp up trans- and queer-friendly counterprogramming.
Because there are lots of pink dollars up for grabs. For example, as rainbow crosswalks have been painted over and ripped up in cities in Texas and Florida, we can expect those cities to show their love for us by other means. This fall, Palm Springs, California, inaugurated a massive flagpole flying the Pride flag, putting it on a spot that is beyond the control of federal and state governments. If our enemies take away our crosswalks, maybe we can have monuments and visitor centres and Pride festivals throughout the year. Queer discounts on flights? Free cookies? We’re here for any destination that can take the edge off this tough time.
Looking back at LGBTQ2S+ travel in 2025, we found five key trends affecting us. Sadly, Trump had a hand in at least two of them. But there are glimmers of hope in there, too.
U.S. federal actions around passport sex markers, travel guidance and trans rights
We weren’t three weeks into 2025 when all hell broke loose. It started with a direct attack on trans people that went on to affect the travel industry worldwide.
On his inauguration day, January 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to recognize only two sexes. The order is having many domestic effects, as the federal government threatened to cut funding to states and other organizations that don’t eliminate references to trans and nonbinary people. But specifically in the realm of travel, the order effectively revoked recognition of nonbinary (“X”) gender markers on government IDs, including passports, a decision that affects Americans who have or want an X passport as well as international travellers with X passports from their home countries who want to visit the U.S. The U.S. State Department also removed or altered language on some government travel pages that had referenced transgender travellers—a webpage previously entitled “LGBTQI+ Travelers” became “Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Travelers.”
Some of these policies were blocked by a federal judge in June, but then in November, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed that decision while legal proceedings continued.
Needless to say, uncertainty around the policies, and the possibility that American border-protection officers would enforce the most restrictive interpretation of the rules, made trans, nonbinary and all sorts of gender nonconforming travellers nervous about crossing the U.S. border. WorldPride in Washington, D.C.’s lower-than-expected turnout was attributed partly to these fears. Queers unaffected or unworried by the rules might have also stayed home in protest. Cause and effect is hard to track. But it’s a safe assumption that some people of colour might have been less inspired to attend after the U.S. federal government had the “Black Lives Matter” mural removed from Washington’s 16th Street.
The rules haven’t merely made a human-rights and emotional impact on trans and nonbinary travellers. There are now mismatches between what’s on some passports (“X”) and what might be in the database of certain airlines or border-control agencies that require “M” or “F,” making the messiness of travel even messier. And the travel industry as a whole doesn’t like bureaucratic messes.
Other countries react to the U.S. passport mess, to Trump’s tariffs and other aggressions
In 2025, the U.S. tourism industry experienced an 8.2 percent decline in international overnight arrivals, according to Oxford Economics data released in June. Canadian behaviour changed most noticeably, with land crossings and air arrivals shrinking by 28 percent and 13.3 percent respectively, hurting cities like Seattle, Portland and Detroit the most. Among other key markets, visitors from Ecuador, South Korea, Germany and France have fallen in the greatest numbers.
Some of this has to be attributed to the passport marker issue, which resulted in Denmark, Germany, Finland and other countries issuing new travel warnings or guidance recommending that trans or nonbinary travellers contact the U.S. embassy before travelling, or to reconsider U.S. trips altogether.
Especially among Canadians, the reluctance to visit the U.S. has been tied to the reaction to new and extraordinarily high American tariffs on imports—possibly resulting in lost jobs and plant closures—along with the broader perception that the U.S. had suddenly become unfriendly to its allies. In January, Trump mused that Canada should become the 51st state, taking up the topic again during the Super Bowl in February: “I think Canada would be much better off being a 51st state.” Many Canadians took this personally, swearing off travel to the U.S. and berating those who did go.
There’s no worse enemy than a bestie who has been tossed aside.
That wasn’t the only bad publicity Trump’s policies have saddled the U.S. tourism industry with. His campaign against immigrants, including ICE raids in many cities, affected not only undocumented residents—some of whom have lived peacefully and productively in the U.S. for decades—but citizens, green card holders and even short-term tourists.
Canada, Europe and other destinations are hoping to capture some of those U.S.-averse travellers.
Hungary, Burkina Faso and Trinidad and Tobago take a backward step
On March 18, the Hungarian parliament enacted legislation that prohibits public LGBTQ+ gatherings—including the annual Budapest Pride—and allows police to use facial-recognition technology to identify attendees. Fines for disobedience are high. Despite Budapest’s mayor declaring Pride to be a municipal-level “Freedom Celebration,” authorities threatened fines and legal action. Though this law might discourage LGBTQ+ visitors from coming for Pride, it didn’t seem to dissuade Hungarians from coming out into the streets—Bucharest held its biggest festival ever just two months after the law was passed.
Meanwhile, in September, Burkina Faso’s transitional government introduced a criminal code that outlaws same-sex relations and the “promotion” of homosexuality—potentially punishing people with prison time and deportation. Even if enforcement is uncertain, the legal change makes the country more dangerous for queer travellers.
The Caribbean, where progress has been made in the last few years, also made a turn in the wrong direction. In 2018, a court had ruled that Trinidad and Tobago’s colonial-era criminalization of anal sex between consenting adults was a violation of people’s rights and struck down the law. But in March, the country’s Court of Appeal reversed that ruling, re-criminalizing homosexuality. While the court stated that the laws “are not reasonably justifiable in a society that has proper respect for the rights and freedoms of the individual,” it cited a strict constitutional provision that shields colonial-era laws from being overturned by the courts.
The ruling is being appealed to a judicial body known as the Privy Council, which serves as the highest appellate court for several Caribbean countries.
Thailand legalizes equal marriage
Thailand has long been known as an LGBTQ+-friendly destination, with a culture that celebrates queerness. Drag performers are famous and TV dramas featuring gay romance are a national export. But some legal protections had lagged behind. In January, Thailand’s Marriage Equality Act finally came into force, replacing gender-specific terms in civil law with gender-neutral language and granting same-gender couples marriage rights, including adoption. The act made Thailand the first Southeast Asian country (and the largest in Asia) to legalize same-gender marriage.
It’s good news for LGBTQ+ Thais, and also for Thailand’s tourism industry, which saw an opportunity for hosting destination weddings. The country timed it impeccably. On the first day the law took effect, nearly 1,800 couples—Thai and foreign nationals—registered marriages, including hundreds in a public mass-wedding celebration organized with Bangkok Pride.
As part of 2025’s budget, the Thai government also allocated more funding toward trans health services, including hormone replacement therapy and other gender-affirming care. For trans travellers, this means better access to gender-affirming services and an added indicator of institutional acceptance.
Some of the most LGBTQ2S+-welcoming destinations grow cold to tourists in general
Some of our favourite destinations are getting tired of being so popular. Destinations like Amsterdam, Barcelona, Seville, Venice, Rome, Mykonos, Dubrovnik and Kyoto are implementing or considering policies to manage tourist numbers, including levies and fees on attractions and hotel rooms, and campaigns to disperse visitors to lesser-known areas.
We’re not taking the blame—we think it’s the straights who are causing our lovely hosts to grow annoyed.
To be fair, many historic centres simply weren’t built for millions of visitors, and locals often blame the short-term rental market for their own rising cost of accommodations. In the case of Amsterdam, the city’s reputation for party tourism, including stag and doe parties, has attracted a lot of rowdies who make noise, litter and damage property.
Destinations like France and Corfu are trying to solve the overtourism problem by trying to attract wealthier visitors—a smaller cohort of people who will stay longer and spend more. If the new strategies work, it could make many popular destinations more relaxing for well-heeled LGBTQ2S+ travellers, but younger and poorer queers might not be able to visit the gay meccas they’ve always wanted to see.
