Is there sexual prejudice towards the LGBTQ community in Porto's municipality?

Abstract

The negative attitude of the local community towards the LGBTQ segment (sexual prejudice) limits its perspective of destination experience, being relevant to analyze the destination's openness towards LGBTQ tourists, since while on holidays they can find their identity and express their sexuality. For this, a qualitative study was carried out in which emails were sent to accommodation service providers in Porto from fictional couples (homosexuals and heterosexuals) in order to verify whether responses were similar to heterosexual tourists, or if there were signals of prejudice. Complementarily, a semi-structured interview was conducted to the managers of the accommodation establishments that responded to the email request, in order to compare the perspectives. Results indicate that accommodation service providers do not show any kind of sexual prejudice, regarding the sex or sexual orientation of the tourist, with the positive attitude towards the LGBTQ community might leading it to choose and return to this destination. In part, they feel comfortable with the LGBTQ community because many of the interviewees have co-workers or friends that are part of this community, and because they belong to a generation that is more open-minded and advocate of equal rights.