Mérida goes after the LGBT + Tourist

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By Rafael Gómez Chi

Mérida has already entered the competition to attract tourism from the LGBTI + segment with experiences focused on single people, couples, and small groups who are offered tours of the Mayan culture.

Ricardo Contreras, from Mérida Gay Tours, said that they create experiences focused on this segment in Playa del Carmen and in Mérida. “We offer safe spaces free of prejudice, our tour guides who are the hosts are gay, people can come and feel comfortable, be who they are without any uncomfortable issues or some homophobia because our job is to offer safe spaces.”

Being gay-friendly the best-selling tour is Uxmal but it is customized for a particular market and depends on what people want. “It addresses the diversity in the Mayan culture, whose religion was based on nature and there are homosexual couples, for them, it was like saying it, they accepted it, because homophobia and machismo came with the Catholic religion and the Spaniards.”

—After the visit to the archaeological site we take them to a cenote and the place we visit now is the Mucuyché farm, because we show the most relevant, what you cannot miss, and they have a few days to experience the most important of Yucatan.

The service is that the company picks up tourists at the hotel and returns them there because the service is very personalized.

—After the pandemic, a lot comes from the United States, before we had from Canada. We now expect about six tours per month, which are solo travelers, couples, or small groups. Last week we had a group of five people from San Francisco, California, and they spent a week getting to know the State.

He said that within the framework of the Tourist Tianguis they hope to have an increase in visits to this type of segment because more couples for anniversaries or birthdays await.

“We started in 2018 and we are members of the International Association of Gay and Lesbian Travelers, we were at the convention in Atlanta in September and we are certified by Queer Destination to serve this market,” he said.

Source: elcronistayucatan.mx

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