Marriott International has once again been ranked as one of the Human Rights Campaign's Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality in 2021, one of 767 companies around the globe to do so.

Last week, two Marriott International executives spent time with LoAnn Halden, Vice President of Communications at The International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) to discuss important topics surrounding the LGBTQ+ community, the travel industry and how inclusivity begins at the top.

Brian King, President of Marriott International for the Caribbean and Latin America, and Apoorva Gandhi, Vice President of Multicultural Affairs and Business Councils at Marriott International, attended and answered questions.

Marriott International has been partnered with IGLTA since 2015 but has a longstanding history of diversity and inclusion. It was one of the first hotel companies to offer same-sex domestic partner benefits and marriages at its properties, and in countries with continued persecution of LGBTQ+ individuals, Marriott has kept its commitment to keeping members of the community safe, whether they be guests or associates.

"We could stay away and not make ourselves present, but that won't advance the cause. By planting a hotel there, by telling our associates this is what we believe in and it is safe for you to be here, it actually starts to change the conversation," said Brian King. "There wasn't a lot of diversity where I grew up, and the hotel for me, coming out as a gay man, was a safe place to be, because it was already so diverse, with different religious beliefs, with different cultural beliefs, and it was this beautiful melting pot of what society should be, and I felt safe there."

Marriott takes a values-based approach, working from the ground up in each of its properties to create inclusion and equality. It isn't just about hosting Pride events each June or targeting members of the LGBTQ+ community in marketing campaigns.

Apoorva Gandhi said, "A very important way for travel organizations to understand the community and understand the policies and campaigns that support the community, is to be involved." He cited IGLTA, the Human Rights Campaign and the National Center for Lesbian Rights as just a few of the groups that businesses can get involved with.

"I like to say that it starts with a conversation that builds a community that builds change. If you don't start with individual conversations, you won't build a larger community and you'll never affect change. This is about long-term winning hearts and minds, changing people's perceptions and opening their worldview, so one conversation can be the spark that lights a fire to change the world," added King.

Furthermore, inclusivity begins at the top, with LGBTQ+ executives and other business leaders. Since Marriott offers training and economic mobility, a maid or a concierge can become a hotel manager or pursue even bigger leadership roles within Marriott International. Empowering the company's associates at the ground or hotel level, then, is really where the change begins and is equally as important as welcoming LGBTQ+ guests to each property and offering them safe stays.

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