Booking.com: Press

Queenstown is New Zealand’s number one international tourist destination, but sometimes for a local, it can be easy to take it’s stunning scenery, award-winning restaurants and any-weather activity options for granted. But now with a second Pride festival (Adrenaline) announced for our bustling mountain town’s Summer – it’s time to remind yourself why the tourists flock here. With that in mind, express selects our favourite QT gems – sure to satisfy even the most regal of queens!

Making a pilgrimage to where your fave TV show is filmed can be a joy for many of us – whether it’s Carrie’s apartment on the Upper East Side, or Platform 9 3/4 at Kings’ Cross Station. For Game of Thrones fans, trekking through the spectacular locations has long been on many a traveller’s bucket list and now fantasy fans have a whole new list of inspiration, thanks to the prequel House of the Dragon. With international travel back on the cards, Booking.com has uncovered some of the dramatic destinations where the new series was filmed. From all the natural splendour the English coastline has to offer to the ancient cities and ruinous castles of Europe, travellers can witness first-hand the incredible locations that have helped bring this long-awaited prequel series to life.

The hotel is a Travel Proud certified property on Booking.com. This means staff have undergone Proud Hospitality training, and there is a dedicated representative who makes sure their whole team is committed to providing an inclusive stay for LGBTQ+ travellers.

If it’s been a while since you visited the Big Smoke, take time to rediscover Auckland with the family.

The New Zealand Rainbow Excellence Awards event was held today in Auckland with NZ Rugby the big winner taking out the Partners Life Supreme Award along with the ASB Emerging Award and the Grant Thornton Innovation Award. Awards Director and judging convenor, Martin King, says the NZ Rainbow Excellence Awards celebrate workplace leadership, innovation, best practice, and collaboration by organisations committed to rainbow diversity and inclusion. "We’re the only rainbow focussed award programme of our kind in Aotearoa," says Kin

‘Travel’ and its connotations should usually denote positive experiences, adventure and enjoyment. Yet for many Kiwi LGBTIQ+ travellers, the reality of travelling can often paint a very different picture, as more than half (61%) have experienced less than welcoming experiences on their journeys.

Like most places and things in Japan, unless you're fluent in spoken and written Japanese, organising a trip like this can be challenging. I sorted mine out using Booking.com, a reservation service like Expedia and Hotels.com, which made getting two nights at the hotel a breeze.

Room rates start at AU$399 (NZ$440). Search for Pinctada McAlpine House on Booking.com. The property is restricted to adult guests and for families with children 16 years and older

As the cradle of Aotearoa’s tourism industry, manaakitanga courses as deep in Rotorua’s DNA as its geothermal verve.

Winter Pride’s inaugural Pride in Business Lunch had business leaders come together in Queenstown on Tuesday to dine and discuss inclusivity in the workplace. Speaking to a sold-out assembly at Bazaar restaurant, a line-up comprised of Spaceworks Interior Architecture chief executive Lizzi Whaley, Mediaworks chief people officer Paula Williams, Booking.com regional manager communications Simon Clark, and Winter Pride co-director Martin King expressed the importance of rainbow pride in businesses and offered practical tips around language, listening, and creating a sense of belonging for employees.

Unleash your own sense of spring fever and embrace all the elements around Rotorua.

With international travel now resuming, a new study conducted amongst LGBTIQ+ travellers across 25 countries including Aotearoa, reveals that a destination’s acceptance of the rainbow community sits at the heart of many LGBTIQ+ travel decisions.

As the cradle of Aotearoa’s tourism industry, manaakitanga endows Rotorua’s DNA. Welcoming and guiding visitors from all over the world since the 1880s, Rotorua remains one of the world’s most enthralling geothermal regions. Surrender to nature’s ferocious awe, where mud pools bubble and boil, hissing geysers gush, and steam coils like phantoms from the earth’s fissures across Rotorua’s remarkable landscape.

With Winter Pride in full swing, platinum partner Booking.com releases new research shedding light on the power of community and acceptance for more inclusive travel. ‘Travel’ and its connotations should usually denote positive experiences, adventure and enjoyment. Yet for many Kiwi LGBTIQ+ travellers, the reality of travelling can often paint a very different picture, as more than half (61%) have experienced less than welcoming experiences on their journeys.

How destinations welcome and accept LGBTIQ+ travellers can have a major impact on the visitor experience, with those supporting the rainbow community more likely to attract business. A Booking.com survey of LGBTIQ+ travellers from 25 countries, including New Zealand, found 61% of Kiwi respondents had a less than welcoming experience on their journey. However, 58% of Kiwis were more likely to travel to a destination that celebrates rainbow communities and their history, and 58% were also more likely to seek out attractions or activities that are tailored to those communities. Further, 47% actively researched accommodations, brands and experiences ahead of booking to understand the role they play in supporting LGBTIQ+ communities, and 60% were more likely to book with businesses and brands that made an effort to do so.

Unleash your own sense of spring fever and embrace the elements around Rotorua. The thrills are free at the gorgeously landscaped Kuirau Park, where it’s crater lake ensures the mud keeps boiling and the steam keeps huffing, at every turn.

A recent study into what it's like to travel for those who identify as LGBTQ+ has found 61 percent of New Zealand respondents have experienced less than welcoming or uncomfortable experiences on their journeys.

Why do we travel? To satisfy our hunger for adventure? To meet and befriend people from different cultures and backgrounds? To create positive experiences and memories we’ll cherish forever? All our reasons differ, but an underlining and inevitable motivation lingers - we want to enjoy it. Yet for many Kiwi LGBTIQ+ travellers, the reality of travelling can often go down a very different road. With more than half of the rainbow community experiencing less than welcoming experiences on their journeys, Booking.com is here to change the stats and create an inclusive travel experience for all.

Award-winning queer photographer, Becki Moss will capture travellers celebrating their most authentic selves at custom Winter Pride photo stations. ‘Travel’ and its connotations should usually denote positive experiences, adventure and enjoyment. Yet for many Kiwi LGBTIQ+ travellers, the reality of travelling can often paint a very different picture, as more than half (61%) have experienced less than welcoming experiences on their journeys.

When we think of the word 'travel' and its connotations, it typically brings up memories of positive experiences, adventure and enjoyment. Yet, for many Kiwi LGBTIQ+ travellers, the reality of travelling can often paint a very different picture, as more than half (61 percent) have experienced less than welcoming experiences on their journeys.

The countdown to Winter Pride in Queenstown has officially begun! This year’s calendar of festivities is filled with exciting activities and events that you won’t want to miss. If you’re heading to Queenstown and looking for accommodation that doubles as the best spot for a night (or day) cap, don’t worry! Here are five fabulously fun Booking.com Travel Proud certified hotels with beautiful bars to keep you and your crew entertained amidst the fun this Winter Pride.

When it comes to booking a hotel, it's not so easy being green. Here's how to find a room that benefits both the environment and the communities around it, writes Jessica Wynne Lockhart To limit global warming, the hotel industry needs to reduce its carbon emissions by a whopping 90 per cent per room by 2050, reports the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance. Yet, a 2022 Booking.com survey found that just over a quarter of Kiwis research properties' sustainability initiatives before they book. Worse, out of those who haven't stayed in a sustainable property in the past year, it's because 27 per cent "didn't even know they existed."

As the snow-capped mountains of Queenstown begin to fill up with holidaymakers ready to shred the snow, there is one particularly special time of year for LGBTIQ+ travellers marked on the calendar; Winter Pride (26 August – 4 September). It’s the largest winter pride festival in the Southern Hemisphere celebrating love, diversity, community, visibility, safety and inclusion. For 61% of Kiwi rainbow travellers who, according to research by our mates at Booking.com, have experienced less-than-welcoming or uncomfortable, experiences when travelling, Winter Pride offers a safe space that celebrates who they are. So, we’ve rounded up the top events and places to stay, all Travel Proud certified, so guests can be sure to have a welcoming experience!

It may have been a month since the Northern Hemisphere’s official Pride month ended, but Pride can (and should) still be celebrated year-round. For half (50%) of Kiwi LQBTIQ+ travellers, being part of the rainbow community impacts the decisions we make when travelling, with 44% of us feeling that the destinations on our ‘bucket lists’ have been affected by being part of the community! Booking.com has pulled together a list of five pride-filled places to visit before the end of August where travellers will be able to celebrate and stay, arriving proudly as themselves. For added peace of mind, Booking has also included locations with a Travel Proud badge so guests can be assured their accommodation provider is LGBTIQ+ friendly and inclusive.