SANDALS has denied pressure from the media and
Parliament has led to it lifting its ban on gay couples in
resort.
Market development director Martin Grass insisted the operator
had “been thinking about changing it for a year”.
Sandals has 13 resorts in the Caribbean including Jamaica, which
has a number of laws that make certain homosexual acts illegal.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s travel advice
informs travellers ‘there are frequent reports in the media
of attacks on homosexuals’.
However, Sandals’ U-turn came in the week it was set to
appear on Radio Four’s Today programme to defend its
stance.
Former Government minister Barbara Roche had planned to attack
the company in a House of Commons debate on the Civil Partnership
Bill this week.
As a Government minister, Roche helped draw up legislation
giving gay couples similar rights to heterosexual couples.
There has also been pressure on the authorities to extend the
scope of a European Union directive banning discrimination against
gay people in the workplace to holiday firms.
London Mayor Ken Livingston was also seeking to get a ban on
Sandals’ advertising on the London Underground extended to
cover to the city’s taxi network.
Grass dismissed suggestions the policy overhaul is due to the
mounting pressure placed on the company. “It’s something we
have been considering for a long time, and it seemed the
appropriate time,” he said.
Local laws will still apply, and Sandals will “make a point of
letting customers know” what the laws are when they check in, he
added.
Neil Basnett, managing director of Stratford-upon-Avon-based
Tana Travel, said the move is a “step in the right direction”,
although he questioned how high the take-up would be from same-sex
couples.
“It won’t attract high numbers as gay couples will be
uncomfortable,” he said
Basnett also runs tour operation Awaygay. He said he would book
Sandals trips, but would have to warn clients of the social
situation. “We sell Sri Lanka, where homosexuality is banned, so
we’d be quite happy to book with Sandals.”