Berlin, 20 June 2013 The German capital is getting ready to celebrate its colourful diversity! Over half a million LGBTQ people will be making their way through the centre of Berlin during the Christopher Street Day Parade on 22 June, taking a stand for greater equality and tolerance. visitBerlin expects a total of 1.5 million people to come to Berlin from Germany and abroad for the CSD weekend, an event that has long drawn people from beyond Germany's borders to the country's capital. According to a study conducted by visitBerlin and CSD Berlin in 2010, almost 600,000 people were involved in the CSD parade. A third of these were visitors to the capital, with 45 per cent of visitors coming from outside of Germany. The highlight of this year's CSD will be the closing rally at the Brandenburg Gate, which is to be followed by a whole host of LGBT parties at various locations throughout Berlin.

100 days standing united: the pink pillow Berlin Collection

One hundred days after its launch, the pink pillow Berlin Collection is starting to report positive results. The number of hotels taking part in the initiative has doubled from 23 to almost 50, with these hotels becoming increasingly prominent in the scene. The participating establishments include the NH hotels, the Novotel Berlin am Tiergarten, the Grand Hotel Esplanade, the abba Berlin Hotel and the Adina Apartment Hotel Berlin at Hackescher Markt. The pink pillow Berlin Collection is a network of Berlin hotels which are especially welcoming to gay and lesbian visitors. It is the only initiative of its kind in the world. Many of the establishments are active in Maneo's Berlin Tolerance Alliance and the Campaign Against Homophobia.

visitBerlin uses selected marketing activities to advertise the collection of hotels. As such, the pink pillow initiative will be present at the Berlin CSD parade this weekend as well as at the New York Gay Pride event the last weekend of June. The hotels from the collection will also be involved in the Life Run for the Berlin AIDS task force. A road show through the Scandinavian cities of Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm took place earlier this year. To follow up, a delegation from each of these cities will be invited to Berlin in October. Another road show is also planned for the second half of the year, this time visiting England.

For more information visit pink-pillow.com.