Turkiye and Egypt both turned an LGBTQIA+ cruise away this month, within days of each other. Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady, chartered by Atlantis Events, was blocked from Turkish ports over “moral standards,” then refused entry to Egyptian waters with no public reason given at all. So what is actually going on? We put that to
Kyle Olsen of
Hermes Holidays, a boutique Australian gay tour operator with more than 20 years of experience, and his answer goes well beyond two ports.
Turkiye and Egypt both turned an LGBTQIA+ cruise away this month, within days of each other. Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady, chartered by Atlantis Events, was blocked from Turkish ports over “moral standards,” then refused entry to Egyptian waters with no public reason given at all. So what is actually going on? So Why Turn Away The Tourist Dollars?
The short version is that some governments have decided their politics are worth more than the money.
“It’s a sad reflection of what’s happening around the world,” Olsen says. “We’re seeing a rise in right-wing governments and increasingly conservative political movements, and in many places LGBTQIA+ rights are being rolled back as a result.”
Welcoming visitors is usually the profitable choice. Olsen’s point is that profit is losing. “Some governments are now willing to put ideology ahead of the economic benefits that LGBTQIA+ visitors bring,” he says.
“The decisions by Turkiye and Egypt don’t exist in isolation. They reflect a broader global trend where some governments feel increasingly emboldened to introduce policies that negatively affect LGBTQIA+ people.” If two tourism hotspots can flip this quickly, how are you meant to plan a trip with any confidence?
A Government Is Not Its People
Here is the part worth holding onto. A hostile government does not always mean a hostile population, and Hungary just proved it. In June 2025, up to 200,000 people defied a government ban to march at Budapest Pride, wrecking the previous record of 35,000. Less than a year later, in April 2026, Viktor Orbán lost power to Péter Magyar’s Tisza party after 16 years in charge.
Olsen sees the same lesson. “It’s important not to confuse the views of a government with those of its people,” he says. Those marchers, he adds, sent “a powerful message that governments don’t always speak for their citizens.”
How Do You Know A Place Is Still Safe?
This is the question every gay traveller is asking right now, and Olsen’s answer is not the obvious one. “I don’t think the answer is to only visit traditionally gay-friendly destinations. The world is far more complex than that,” he says. “A destination’s reputation from five or ten years ago isn’t necessarily its reality today.”
His advice is to stay current, not just sentimental about a place. It is also why he backs the big global moments.
In a few weeks he is taking a group to Amsterdam for WorldPride, which runs from 25 July to 8 August and marks 25 years since the Netherlands became the first country to legalise same-sex marriage.
“Not just to celebrate,” he says, “but to stand alongside hundreds of thousands of people from around the world and send a clear message that equality can never be taken for granted.”
Don’t Travel In Fear, Travel Informed
That line is Olsen’s, and it is the whole argument in four words. The practical version: choose places where you feel comfortable, back local businesses that welcome you, and do your research before you go so there are no surprises.
He closes on something heavier, and fair. “The freedoms we enjoy today only exist because previous generations fought for them,” he says. “It’s now our responsibility to make sure those rights are protected for the generations that follow.”
At DNA, we would add just one thing. The Scarlet Lady passengers still got their holiday. The ports that turned them away are the ones that lost.
