| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 30/04/01 |
| Author: | Page Number: 10 |
| Copyright: Other |
Recognising gay market’s needs
letter of the week
As a director of the UK’s leading gay tour operator, I feel it is time to make my own modest contribution to the debate raging in the pages of Travel Weekly.
Maureen Hill states that Thomas Cook’s decision to treat gay travel as a specialist market is a “bigoted affront to human rights” (Travel Weekly April 23). Maureen’s endearing penchant for journalistic hyperbole aside, she is missing the point. A specialist gay market does exist, and it exists to resorts where there is an established gay infrastructure: bars, clubs, beaches,pick-up areas (shock horror!), even exclusively gay hotels. This aspect of gay travel can be considered in the same way as other specialist markets, such as sailing or diving.
In other words, for counter staff to be able to offer the potential client the best possible service, he or she needs to be educated in the types of holiday required and be as conversant as possible with details on a particular resort: where is the nearest gay beach? Is it OK to walk hand in hand with one’s partner through the resort? Staff need to be able to answer these type of questions, and I applaud Thomas Cook for recognising this.
The specialist gay holiday may not appeal to all gay people. So, a gay holidaymaker wishing to book a Nile cruise or rent a country cottage in Wales does not need special treatment: in these instances, his or her sexuality bears no relevance to the chosen holiday. To treat this potential customer differently from any other would be divisive, but these are different circumstances from those addressed by the provider of specialist gay travel products such as Respect Holidays. In short, a mountaineer wishing to go on a mountaineering holiday requires a specialist service; a mountaineer wishing to spend a week in Palma Nova requires none.
Incidentally, any agent wishing to educate themselves in the specifics of gay travel is more than welcome to request a copy of Respect Holidays’ brochure.
Rob Harkavy, Respect Holidays, London