New research has found nearly half of all countries or
territories in the world have no specific protections in place for members of
the LGBT+ community, highlighting the need for travel managers to assess the
risks to business travellers as people get back on the road following the
coronavirus pandemic.
According to travel risk intelligence company Riskline,
homosexuality is deemed legal or there are no specific laws in place in 154 out
of 225 countries and territories covered by its research. However, there are no
protections in place in 109 destinations, with the majority being in
sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Northern Europe, some parts of Asia Pacific
and the Caribbean.
Furthermore, societies in 104 countries are generally not
accepting of LGBT+ people, predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East
and North Africa, while 82 are somewhat accepting and 39 are widely tolerant.
Suzanne Sangiovese, commercial and communications director
at Riskline, said: “With research indicating that the appetite to travel may be
returning, travel managers now need to look to the future and plan ahead.
Accessing the latest – and most detailed – travel risk advice is crucial – a basic
level of information is not enough.
“Employers and travel managers may think that they already
have ‘duty of care’ obligations met, so why do they need to have more of it?
Duty of care isn’t one size fits all. It’s crucial for travel managers to
understand that travellers are a diverse group of individuals, and not everyone
has the same risk profile and/or needs. To ensure travellers have a safe travel
experience it’s important to be aware of these differences and mitigate any
risks associated with them.”