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Asia's first-ever IGLTA Global Convention comes to Osaka in October 2024!

Dates: October 23 (Wed)- 26 (Sat), 2024

Host Hotel: Swissôtel Nankai Osaka

The Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau (OCTB) strives to promote Osaka as a welcoming and safe destination for LGBTQ+ travelers. The OCTB joined the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association (IGLTA) in October 2018, and since then has undertaken many initiatives including hosting LGBTQ+ seminars for local partners in travel, invited LGBTQ+ travel media for press trips, implemented Pride Month campaigns in June, and launched the Visit Gay Osaka informational portal, the first such website from a tourism office in Japan.

It is for these reasons, as well as Osaka's status as a world-class events destination, that after an extensive bidding process in which the OCTB participated, the IGLTA announced that they selected Osaka as the winning host destination for the 2024 IGLTA Global Convention. This convention annually brings hundreds of LGBTQ+ tourism professionals, hotels, airlines, and more to a specific destination, and the Osaka convention will be the first time this major event has come to Asia.

The OCTB has partnered with destinations across the country in order to promote all of Japan as LGBTQ+-friendly. These include Hokkaido, Ishikawa, Tokyo, Gifu, Nara, and Fukuoka, who have invited LGBTQ+ travel media, influencers, and travel agents to come visit their destinations both immediately before and after the convention in Osaka.

To continue the celebration of Osaka as a welcoming destination, several events are happening surrounding the IGLTA convention:

・Fri, Oct 25: Ookini Night: LGBTQ+ Mix Party where anyone is welcome, held at Crazyland by Cheval in Shinsaibashi
・Sat and Sun Oct 26- 27: Rainbow Festa! 2024: Osaka's annual pride event that attracts over 20,000 visitors, held at Ogimachi Park
・Sun, Oct 27: Opulence, the first-ever western Japan performance of Japan's greatest international drag queen show, held at Zepp Namba

In addition to these events, the OCTB has worked with commercial facilities, railway companies, and shopping districts largely centered around the Namba district to display rainbow welcome signage and banners, painting the entire city rainbow in order to give a heartfelt welcome both IGLTA attendees and LGBTQ+ travelers.

By showcasing Osaka and Japan as LGBTQ+-friendly destinations to the world through the IGLTA convention and surrounding events, the OCTB aims to make Osaka a premier travel hub and promote LGBTQ+-friendly travel throughout Japan.

See more about the IGLTA 2024 Global Convention:

• Convention Website

See Visit Gay Osaka here:

• VISIT GAY OSAKA

About the IGLTA

IGLTA, the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association was founded in 1983 and is the world's leading network of LGBTQ+-welcoming tourism businesses. IGLTA provides free travel resources and information while continuously working to promote equality and safety within LGBTQ+ tourism worldwide. IGLTA’s members include LGBTQ+-friendly accommodations, transport, destinations, service providers, Travel Advisors, tour operators, events and travel media located in over 80 countries. The annual IGLTA convention takes place in a different country every year, and the 2024 Osaka convention marks the 41st edition.

See more about the IGLTA:

• IGLTA