Traveling under the rainbow

Alfred Holzknecht: With the founding of the rainbow travel brand in 2018, I realized my desire to bring a holistic, socially sustainable and tolerant product to the market. rainbow travel as an LGBTQ+ community travel agency (organizer & agent) has made it its mission to create safe and carefree travel for the LGBTQ+ community. The safe space away from the domestic safe space is absolutely in focus here and when putting together our offers, we make sure that our partners in the destinations are also willing and have the awareness to create this safe space for our travelers.

Alfred Holzknecht: We only market very few classic package tours. Our credo "tailor-made vacations - not off the peg" is reflected in the design of our offers. The needs of the LGBTQ+ community are as colorful and multifaceted as the rainbow itself, which is why it is always very important to us to respond to each individual customer and create an appropriate offer. Always with a focus on safety and carefree travel. This is not a problem in many destinations around the world. (Note: The recently published Gay Travel Index gives a good general picture here). In some countries, however, same-sex, transgender and intersex travelers are not so welcome. Open communication with customers about DOs and DON'Ts in the various countries and also with our partners in the destinations is very important here and I see it as a basic prerequisite for creating an unforgettable vacation experience. Many of our competitors on the market are trying to appeal to the LGBTQ+ community - as a target group with purchasing power - but unfortunately do not have the necessary know-how. At rainbow travel, we manage to create the perfect offers. This is probably the most important difference to the "classic travel agencies".

Alfred Holzknecht: Tirol has enormous potential. Basically, we are a very open country - unfortunately, we don't always manage to communicate this. In times of internationalization of our source markets (of course, Germany will always be at the forefront), we are facing many challenges in domestic tourism. We first have to get used to the behavior of new travelers from all over the world. I see this as a further development process in which we also emphasize acceptance and tolerance more strongly in our values, which are communicated to the outside world. With our projects, such as Winter Pride in Sölden, we manage quite well to show the world, at least for a week, that Tirol, and in this case specifically Ötztal, is an open and tolerant destination, that we are happy to transport the colors of the rainbow to the outside world and that we in the Tyrolean valleys are ready for an international audience, also in the LGBTQ+ sector. At the 2026 edition of Winter Pride (21.-28.03.2026), participants from, as of today - 12.03.2026 - 26 different countries will be taking part. It would be very important to me that we can create offers such as Winter Pride in Sölden for the whole of Tyrol - this is where the product and brand development of the destinations is needed - the LGBTQ+ is a community that basically likes Tyrol and also has the necessary purchasing power. And in Tirol we have a great infrastructure that could be perfectly converted into concrete offers. With rainbow travel, we are also happy to provide advice here.

Alfred Holzknecht : Feeling safe and welcome everywhere will probably be fundamentally difficult, because it always depends on the people, the service providers in the individual destinations and also on the community itself. In some cases, a combination of these factors does not make it possible for travelers from the LGBTQ+ community to feel welcome. Conversely, it must also be noted that the community itself often poses great challenges to society by displaying "extreme" behavior. In times like these, the LGBTQ+ community must continue to promote the goal of education, tolerance and acceptance and thus gradually strengthen understanding in society, especially among the older generations. Basically, it is important that tourism, from the umbrella organization of a destination to the individual hosts, is educated, understands the target group and knows what issues the community itself is currently dealing with. This is the only way for tourism organizations of all kinds to create an honest openness towards travelers from the LGBTQ+ community.