LGBTQ tourists are at risk of discrimination in some popular holiday destinations. A review of LGBTQ+ laws, the travel safety and crime indexes to find the safest tourist destinations.

Malta

Chile

Luxembourg

Belgium

Sweden

New Zealand

France

Ireland

UK

Canada

Malta was named the safest destination in the world for LGBTQ+ travellers, based on its performance in several key rankings.

Gay marriage is legal in Malta and transgender people can change their gender with or without surgery.

In 2015, Malta became the first country in the world to ban sterilisation and invasive surgery on intersex people.

The country is also regarded as generally safe for travel and there’s a very low risk of tourists facing violent crime or theft.

Chile was named the world’s second-best destination for LGBTQ+ travellers and same-sex marriage is legal there.

The South American country also ranks highly on the LGBTQ+ Safety Index although it is generally considered to be less safe than Malta.

Luxembourg was the third country on the list and same-sex marriage is legal in the small European country.

Transgender people are allowed to change their legal gender without surgery in Luxembourg.

Belgium, Sweden and France also made the top 10 list and same-sex marriage is legal in all three countries.

Each of the countries are considered generally safe for LGBTQ+ tourists with low levels of violent crime.

Ireland took the eighth spot on the list while Canada and New Zealand rounded out the top 10 with the UK.

Merchant Machine, UK January 2023 conducted the study