A Hot Destination
LGBTQ Travel

Food

Inclusive and Progressive
Gay Friendly

If you want a culturally rich, geographically stunning, safe, and LGBTQ welcoming destination, then New Zealand is a perfect match for you.

New Zealand is rated one of the most “inclusive and progressive” gay-friendly travel destinations in the world by Lonely Planet. We are well known for our acceptance and diversity. New Zealand is a fantastic country for LGBTQ people to live in, which makes it a great destination for LGBTQ travellers to visit.

Expect a
Warm Welcome

As a lesbian owned and operated company, we are proud to serve the LGBTQ community. We’ve selectively partnered with local business owners in New Zealand who value working with the LGBTQ community and who provide exceptional lodging, and unique and personalised experiences. Obviously we work with LGBTQ owned businesses as much as possible also.

Wellington Pride group
Food

custom designed
LGBTQ-Specific Experiences

Especially important for many of our LGBTQ guests are the unique, private experiences we create for you that don’t exist online. For example, maybe you’re an artist and want to chat with queer artists in their studios, or you’d enjoy dinner with a lesbian couple in their Maori village home where food is cooked over open thermal heat vents. Maybe sampling the regions gourmet local cuisine with lesbian foodies is appealing, or wandering Wellington with a gay guide learning the LGBTQ history of the city is more your thing. Let us know your desires, and we’ll connect you with our local partners who offer truly immersive experiences.

If that’s not enough, here are many of the ways New Zealand is LGBTQ friendly:

    • We are a socially progressive country, being the first country in the world to give women the right to vote in 1893.
    • We recently celebrated 30 years since same-sex sexual activity was decriminalized in 1986.
    • We were the first country in the world to have an openly transgender mayor, Georgina Beyer, in 1995. In 1999 she became the world’s first transgender member of Parliament, and remained in Parliament until her retirement in 2007.
    • Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression has been illegal since 1993.
    • Our military is independently ranked the most inclusive in the world with LGB members allowed to serve openly since 1993.
    • We’ve had openly gay and lesbian politicians serving since 1993, with Rainbow Labour, a branch of the Labour Party, being formed in 1997 to represent LGBTQ people.
    • We legalized same-sex marriage in 2013.
    • Adoption by same-sex couples has been legal since 2013.
    • New Zealanders can now have a passport in our preferred sex/gender of M (male), F (female) or X (indeterminate/unspecified), without having these details amended on our birth or citizenship record.
    • The first Pride events were held in the 70s and continue today with Pride events in several cities: Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton.
    • In general the majority of New Zealanders don’t give a hoot if you’re LGBTQ or not! We are an open-minded, non-judgmental and forward-thinking society. Political parties operating on socially conservative platforms don’t hold any traction anymore in New Zealand.
    • For most LGBTQ New Zealanders, our social circles are mixed, and we are very integrated into society. We at New Zealand Awaits are aware that this is a privilege that is not the case everywhere in the world.