Following an examination that revealed policies intended to keep Irish travellers out of its vacation resorts, Pontins has issued an apology to them, reports Breaking News.
In February, the holiday park operator received an illegal conduct notice from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) for indulging in what the watchdog called “shocking overt race discrimination” against Irish Travellers.
The company’s one-year action plan to address discriminatory behaviours was initiated in conjunction with the EHRC, and the apology is the first step of that plan, reports Breaking News.
The inquiry, which was made public earlier this year, discovered that between 2013 and 2018, Pontins was connected to 11 illegal actions and had used “company systems and practices” that were intended to prevent Irish Travellers from entering its vacation resorts.
The Equality Act involved the compilation of a list of popular Irish surnames that were designated as “undesirable guests.”
According to the commission, contact centre employees were directed to listen for Irish accents in order to identify travellers and refuse or cancel reservations made under such identities, reports Breaking News.
There was also discovered to be a “banned guest” list, which included those Pontins believed to be Irish Travellers as well as anyone connected to them, including friends and relatives.
The commission claimed that Pontins, owned by Britannia Jinky Jersey Limited, discriminated against gipsies and travellers by imposing requirements for visitors to be on the electoral register, as these groups are less likely to be on the register.
A spokesman for the business stated on Monday that it was “clearly wrong” to forbid visitors from staying at its parks and that it would like to “reiterate our apologies.”
The statement said: “On behalf of the owners, directors, senior managers and all of us here at Pontins, we would like to reiterate our apologies regarding the serious issues raised by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in their report. In particular, we want to apologise directly to the traveller and gypsy community. The refusal to allow guests to stay at our parks because we suspected they were Irish Travellers was clearly wrong. We accept the serious nature of the issues raised in the report,” reports Breaking News.
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