”Sexual minorities are welcome” - ”This country” attracts 4 million tourists after marriage equality law goes into effect

A new study by travel platform Agoda has found that Thailand's marriage equality law could attract an extra four million international tourists per year over the next two years, generating an additional $2 billion in tourism revenue per year.
Thailand will become the third country in Asia and the first in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex marriage on January 22 next year, following Taiwan in 2019 and Nepal in 2023.
In line with this, Agoda and Access Partnership have released a report entitled "The Economic Impact of the Implementation of the Marriage Equality Law on Thailand's Tourism Industry," outlining the economic impact of the Marriage Equality Law.
According to the report, an additional 4 million foreign tourists are expected to visit Thailand annually within two years of the law's implementation. The reason for this increase is the psychology of sexual minority travelers when deciding on their travel destinations.
According to the analysis of countries that have introduced marriage equality laws presented in the report, whether or not a country supports the rights of sexual minorities has a significant impact on sexual minorities in deciding where to travel.
It was found to be an important factor. Countries that implemented marriage equality laws saw an average increase of about 10% in foreign tourists two years after the law was enacted. Even tourists who are not LGBTQ people support LGBT rights.
Going even further into country preference, it was analyzed that 43% of LGBT tourists would cancel their trip if they perceived the country they were planning to visit did not support the rights of LGBT people.
Henry Ko, Secretary General of the International LGBTI Association of Asia, said: "Unfortunately, more than half of LGBTI tourists in the Asia-Pacific region experience discrimination while traveling and feel unsafe.
"With this legal change, Thailand will become a safe and attractive tourist destination and will also be able to fully fulfill its role as a destination for overseas marriages," he said.
The economic ripple effect of an increase in tourists cannot be ignored. If the number of tourists increases by 4 million, annual tourism revenue will increase by 2 billion dollars and 152,000 new jobs will be created.
In this case, Thailand's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to increase by 0.3%.