Tourism Kamloops is officially Rainbow Registered aligning with a national accreditation for LGBT+ friendly businesses. What does this all mean for Tourism Kamloops?
Here’s the scoop:
Pride Parade
What Does it Mean to be Rainbow Registered?
Rainbow Registered is a national accreditation for LGBT+ friendly businesses and organizations. When you see a Rainbow Registered symbol, you know the business or organization meets a stringent set of standards to ensure LGBT+ customers feel safe, welcomed, and accepted.
The accreditation program grants a time-limited recognition to businesses and organizations for demonstrating compliance with the quality standard. Accredited businesses are deemed market ready for the LGBT+ customer and given the right to be associated with the program’s prestigious Rainbow Registered designation mark.
Why did we apply to be registered?
Tourism Kamloops applied for this because it aligns with our values (act inclusively, and live diversely) and it is clearly stated in our strategic plan (2022 – 2027) that we are committed to integrating inclusivity and diversity in all that we do. What better place to start, than in your own house. We wanted to go through this process to ensure we are doing everything we can internally so that we can now support our partners in this same pursuit.
What does it mean for Tourism Kamloops?
Are there any next steps or actions from this? This means that Tourism Kamloops is honouring our commitment to equality, inclusivity and diversity. The next steps will be to share this information with our stakeholders and always challenge ourselves to continue to grow and educate our team in this space.
How can stakeholders become registered or take steps to become more LGBT+ inclusive?
I encourage all of our stakeholders to take a look at the Rainbow Registered Program. There is a lot of information on the Canadian LGBT+ Chamber (CGLCC) website. I believe this is a great first step for organizations looking to educate and train their staff on how to become a more inclusive and diverse workplace, as well as market preparedness training for serving the LGBT+ clientele.