Kaohsiung Travel website

Kaohsiung has shown spectacular performance in tourism! The city has not only attracted the highest number of tourists among all cities and counties in Taiwan, totaling 69.23 million, but also ranked first again in the Global Views Monthly’s local government performance rankings! To create a friendly tourism environment, the Tourism Bureau of Kaohsiung City Government pioneered the All Gender Accommodation Advisory and Certification System in 2023. In two years’ time, a total of 40 hotels and inns have been successfully guided in getting certification. The project has also gained recognition from the Executive Yuan and won the 23rd Golden Carnation Award – Gender Innovation Award. Director-general Minlin Kao of the Tourism Bureau accepted the award in Taipei in person on May 28. Gender equality is an important indicator of city advancement. Kaohsiung has incorporated gender awareness in large-scale events and scenic area construction to give a strong impetus to the pink economy, and has also shown concern over the issue of period poverty. As hotels and inns are travelers’ first stop when they arrive at the city, Kaohsiung’s Tourism Bureau introduced the first-of-its-kind all gender accommodation advisory and certification system, actively improving the city’s friendly environment, gender equality knowledge and practice in the accommodation industry, and hospitality and tourist services. It aims to help the tourism industry connect with the international market, upgrade and transform. Meanwhile, active efforts are also made to demonstrate Kaohsiung’s innovative power by integrating gender equality and tourism, making “gender friendliness” a new city logo of Kaohsiung!
Kao pointed out that the Tourism Bureau has keenly promoted “All Gender Accommodation” in the recent three years. This year, Kaohsiung’s proposal with the theme of “making a tourist city that embraces all gender forms” stood out from 24 proposals nationwide, winning the judges’ favor for the Executive Yuan’s Golden Carnation Awards. To improve gender equality knowledge and practice in the accommodation industry, eliminate gender stereotypes, reduce safety concerns for women, and clear up misunderstandings about LGBTQ+ travelers, the Tourism Bureau has actively instituted the All Gender Accommodation Advisory and Certification System. A series of lectures were delivered by experts and scholars to enlighten accommodation operators on gender diversity, enhance their gender awareness, and ensure implementation of the three gender equality laws. Meanwhile, field visits are also made by experts and scholars to give guidance to the operators, so that a friendly accommodation environment can be established from both systemic and practical perspectives, and each traveler would stay in Kaohsiung with peace of mind. Hence, a friendly tourism environment is created to tap into the pink economy.

Kaohsiung is not just the first city in Taiwan that has pushed for household registration for same-sex couples (or “the sunshine registration”) even before the legalization of same-sex marriage, but also embraces the biggest rainbow landscape in the country, said Kao. The Tourism Bureau has also actively remodeled the reception areas of government offices to incorporate the rainbow imagery, and pioneered the All Gender Accommodation Advisory and Certification System in the country. Moreover, an “All Gender Accommodations” zone is set up on the Kaohsiung Travel website to allow easy inquiry of the relevant information. Kao explained that the Tourism Bureau has joined hands with the tourism associations, hospitality and accommodation operators in Kaohsiung in recent years to take part in the Kaohsiung Pride Parade and promoted Kaohsiung Rainbow Sightseeing Bus in collaboration with Nymphia Wind the world drag queen. Gender awareness is actively integrated when organizing large-scale events. For example, installation art such as the Rainbow Rabbit Trail and Rabbit God were set up in the 2023 Lotus Pond Lantern Festival, and all gender restrooms and breastfeeding spaces were provided in the 2024 and 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland during the display periods of Rubber Duck and Chiikawa. The Tourism Bureau has also increased the male-to-female restroom compartment ratio to 1:3 and set up baby changing stations in male restrooms in scenic areas under its administration. Meanwhile, the Bureau has also shown concern over the issue of period poverty, and provided a variety of sanitary products free of charge in scenic areas and other venues under outsourced management. In new landscaping projects, the Tourism Bureau has added diverse design elements, such as breastfeeding rooms, gender- and age-friendly restrooms, etc. Moreover, the Bureau has rolled out rainbow merchandise designed with the city’s mascot – Kaohsiung Bear, and put keen efforts on international tourism marketing activities in such places as Thailand, South Korea, and Vietnam to promote Kaohsiung as the best gender-friendly tourist destination in Taiwan. A wide range of different tour options are offered for local and overseas LGBTQ+ tourists.
Since the launch of All Gender Accommodation Certification and Supervisory Project in 2023, 20 hotel operators were picked in the first year to partake in the guidance project. Operators’ gender-friendliness level was generally lifted up through education and training on gender awareness issues and on-site guidance by experts, through which their knowledge, software and hardware facilities, and hospitality services were all improved. In 2024, another 20 hotel operators joined the guidance project. The policy contents have been continually substantiated. To date, a total of 40 accommodations have acquired the All Gender Accommodation Label, including star-rated hotels, business hotels, backpacker hostels, and specialty B&Bs. The project has instilled a service culture that upholds diversity and inclusion in the accommodation industry. The guidance project has persisted into 2025 to allow operators of different scales and resources incorporate the concept of gender equality into their brand value. A subsidy program is also in place to encourage hotel operators to devote resources to spatial revamp, setting up rainbow installation art and creating a gender-friendly environment.

The Tourism Bureau further explained that Kaohsiung’s All Gender Accommodation Certification and Supervisory Project has devised indicators in five aspects, including operator’s participation in gender equality training courses, apparent labeling of the “All Gender Accommodation”, setting up of all gender restrooms, gender-friendly forms and documents, and freedom of staff uniform choices. Relevant training courses on professional knowledge are offered; on-site guidance and field visits are conducted, and follow-up revisits and re-inspections are randomly arranged to guide operators in self-review, correction, and improvement from the perspectives of different genders and diverse users, so that comfortable, respectful, and reassuring services would be offered to LGBTQ+ travelers.

Kaohsiung’s tourism has received much attention and been widely recognized with positive feedback in recent years. Tourism satisfaction has soared to the highest level since 2023. In 2024 Global Views Monthly’s ranking, Kaohsiung was ranked first for tourism satisfaction, and the CommonWealth Magazine awarded Kaohsiung as the City of Excellence 2024 for economic growth. The international hotel booking platform Agoda listed Kaohsiung as “2024 Asia’s Most Affordable and Fun” city, being the only Taiwanese city on the list, and the city recorded the highest number of tourists nationwide. In 2025, Kaohsiung was also the only Taiwanese city on Klook’s “Up-and-Coming Destinations,” and a historic high number of tourists hitting 69.23 million made it the most visited city in the country. Recently, media rankings also found Kaohsiung being ranked No. 1 again in tourism satisfaction. For guidance of the accommodation industry, Kaohsiung has been rated “Excellent” seven times by the Tourism Administration in the national evaluation. These evidently show Kaohsiung’s strenuous efforts in improving the city’s tourism environment, with an eye to boost tourism development and upgrade, create economic value, and realize the brilliant results of integrating gender equality and tourism.

Drawing on domestic tourism and connecting with the international market, the Tourism Bureau looks to persistently optimize Kaohsiung’s tourism environment and accommodation quality, promote international exchange and observation, collaborate with the tourism industry, and urge more tourism and accommodation operators to join our array. We work together to make Kaohsiung a friendly city that allows every traveler from anywhere around the world to enjoy peace-of-mind accommodation and carefree travel! For more details about traveling and accommodation, please make an inquiry at the Kaohsiung Travel website.