Tasmania has become the first state to accredit gay-friendly tourism businesses. Source: AAP
TASMANIA has become the first state to accredit gay-friendly tourism businesses just months after it snubbed a projected $100 million windfall from same-sex marriage.
The Rainbow Tasmanian Tourism Accreditation program will allow tourism operators to officially declare themselves gay-friendly, a move officials say other states may adopt.
To earn accreditation, businesses will need to prove they adhere to the anti-discrimination laws, train staff and sign a code of ethics.
The move comes seven months after Tasmania's upper house narrowly voted down a bill that would have made the state the first in Australia to allow same-sex marriage.
That decision cost the state's economy $96 million which would have been spent on weddings and honeymoons over three years, according to a University of California study.
"Providing (gay) tourists with a safe and non-discriminatory visitor experience will benefit our reputation as a tourism destination," Australian Marriage Equality convenor Rodney Croome said in a statement.
"But if we really want to attract gay visitors to Tasmania we should become the first Australian state to allow same-sex couples to marry."
A voluntary system was in place for gay-friendly operators before a push by Rainbow Communities Tasmania for a more formal approach.
Spokesman for the group, Julian Punch, said problems still existed in some regions of the state and among some employees, including security staff.
"There has been a presumption that if there's a gay person in the midst of some sort of conflict it's the gay person that goes," Mr Punch said.
Tourism Industry Council chief Luke Martin said he was hopeful a majority of his organisation's 1200 members would sign on, boosting the numbers of "high-yielding" gay tourists.
He said other states would be watching the roll-out of the program in Tasmania, which decriminalised homosexuality in 1997.
Same-sex marriage will be back on the agenda when three of Tasmania's 15 upper house seats go to elections in less than two weeks.
Candidates in favour of the reform, with the help of online activist group GetUp!, are hoping to unseat Legislative Councillors who voted against the reforms.
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