Antwerp 5th on 2025 Happy City Index

The 18th edition (since 2008) of Antwerp Pride takes place from Wednesday 6 to Sunday 10 August 2025 in Antwerp. This year’s theme is “Do not just march! Listen. Understand. Commit”. Prides are a mix of celebration – parties – and activism and advocacy. For the 2025 edition, the organising committee focuses on belonging. Belonging…

Star Alliance enhances intermodal connectivity with Austria’s ÖBB

Continuing its commitment to enhanced global connectivity, Star Alliance, together with 25 member airlines, welcomed ÖBB as its newest intermodal partner. This partnership allows customers of ÖBB and Star Alliance member airlines to seamlessly begin or conclude their long-distance journey on ÖBB’s eco-friendly RailJet trains, connecting from or to Graz, Linz, Salzburg, and Innsbruck in…

2025: Overtourism overdose?

On 1 January 2024 we wrote about how rising prices affect travel. Not only the price of flights, but also the price of activities. Pricing was a topic the year before, 2023. In 2024, conventional and social media dug into the issue of overtourism. Articles about locals protesting, Instagrammers posting about big crowds in Japan…

The best cities to visit as a gay solo traveller

In September 2024 Instagram pushed me a post by Travel Gay, a website listing “the best gay bars, nightclubs, saunas, spas, beaches, shops and more, along with interesting travel ideas and fabulous offers”. There I saw the undated post (date your articles and posts, people) ‘LGBTQ+ Solo Travel: the Best Cities to Visit?‘ by Adam…

Brussels Pride officially recognised as Intangible Cultural Heritage

Brussels Pride is now part of the Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Brussels-Capital Region. This was announced in a press release by Ans Persoons (Vooruit), Secretary of State for Heritage of Brussels. Brussels now wants to submit the candidacy of pride as Intangible Cultural Heritage to UNESCO, together with other cities and countries.

ILGA WORLD | Despite more legal protections for LGBTI people, stark opposition has been a recurring theme in debates in every UN member State

‘Laws on Us‘ is the new landmark report by worldwide LGBTQIA+ advocacy organisation ILGA World, mapping laws affecting LGBTI communities across the world. Together with the ILGA World Database, it follows in the footsteps of previous landmark reports by the organisation, namely, the ‘State-Sponsored Homophobia‘ and the ‘Trans Legal Mapping Report‘, and equally encompasses issues…

Hong Kong & Macau in 4 days

It’s been a while since I used a travel agent to plan a trip. But a major travel agent in Belgium posted a deal one can’t refuse in a newsletter in June 2023. Flights from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific and three nights at the four-star Park Hotel Hong Kong in…