By Robert Lalah and Monique Hepburn, Staff ReportersTHE SANDALS hotel chain, which since 2001 has enforced a ban on same-sex couples, yesterday released a statement saying the company has decided to remove the word 'heterosexual' from all its advertising.
The statement comes on the heels of a report posted on the British Guardian newspaper website, stating that the hotel giant had lifted its ban on same-sex couples in response to pressure from sexual equality groups in the United Kingdom.
The statement released by Sandals said the decision to remove the word heterosexual from its advertising, is in direct response to emerging commercial and social laws in some jurisdictions that now interpret what was traditionally regarded as niche marketing, to be a modern-day form of discrimination. It said the removal of the word heterosexual is necessary at this time to make Sandals compliant, particularly with European Union laws.
Horace Peterkin, general manager of Sandals Montego Bay, the chain's flagship property, told The Gleaner yesterday that he does not think that homosexuals would now be more inclined to visit the resort in light of the modification.
"The United Kingdom and Europe are getting paranoid about the matter of discrimination and they are looking under every bush for it which is ridiculous," said Peterkin.
"We do not anticipate that homosexual couples will come to the resort in light of the change," he continued, adding that "We have other properties that are more open to a wider niche."
"Right now our staff has not even respond to the change because we are confident that it will not affect how we operate. Everything about us has to do with a man and a woman."
According to Mr. Peterkin, the key players in the hospitality trade know that the hotel chain caters to heterosexual couples. He said his view that it is unlikely that homosexuals would turn up at Sandals hotels was backed by research.
"Our research tells us that people tend to want to go among other people of similar persuasion. The profile of Sandals will not change."
COMMERCIAL PRESSURE
The Guardian also reported yesterday, that Sandals was under commercial pressure from London Mayor Ken Livingstone who had banned its advertisements from underground trains and wanted to do the same on London's taxi cabs, because of what he saw as Sandals' 'homophobic' attitude.
This change by Sandals comes two weeks after corporate giants Cable and Wireless Jamaica Ltd., Courts Jamaica Ltd., Digicel Jamaica, Red Stripe, Pepsi-Cola Jamaica and Wray and Nephew Ltd. announced that they would no longer lend their names to anything that incites or promotes violence.
This attempt by corporate Jamaica to use its economic power to clean up the local music industry itself came in the wake of protests from Outrage!, a British-based gay rights group, which has successfully lobbied for shows featuring Jamaican acts such as Beenie Man, Capleton and Vybz Kartel to be cancelled throughout Great Britain, largely due to their anti-gay lyrics.
