BRITISH HOLIDAY PARK operator Pontins has apologised for refusing to allow guests who were thought to be Irish Travellers from staying at their parks.
A spokesperson for Pontins said it “regrets any distress caused” and that the “refusal to allow guests to stay at our parks because we suspected they were Irish Travellers was clearly wrong”.
It sets out steps the holiday park must take to address its discriminatory policies.
Pontins today said it has entered into a one-year action plan that will be monitored by the EHRC.
The move follows an investigation which uncovered company systems and practices aimed at barring Irish Travellers from their holiday parks between 2013 and 2018.
The investigation was prompted by a whistle-blower who came forward in 2020 and the EHRC found that holidaymakers were “routinely discriminated against when Pontins felt their name, accent or address indicated” they were Irish Travellers.
In February, the EHRC served Pontins with an unlawful notice act on the back of the investigation.
The EHRC found 11 unlawful acts which discriminated against Irish Travellers, including monitoring calls within its contact centre and refusing or cancelling any bookings that were made by people with an Irish accent or surname.
A list of Irish surnames, published on its intranet page, titled ‘undesirable guests’ also required staff to block any potential customers with those names from booking.
This list contained 40 surnames of Irish origin and had various instructions to staff from senior management that they should refuse bookings.
Among the surnames were Boyle, Carr, Doherty, Leahy, McDonagh, Nolan, and Ward.
The list also had a graphical image, apparently of Gandalf, the wizard from the Lord of the Rings series, with the words ‘You Shall Not Pass’ written underneath.
Under the image of Gandalf were several lines of text, one of which read, ‘We have been informed by our Operations Director that we do not want these guests in our parks’.
Some staff said they would be reprimanded if a suspected Traveller was able to book with Pontins.
Pontins also introduced an electoral roll requirement in its booking terms and conditions in 2018 as a disguised form of discrimination against the Traveller community.
An electoral roll is a list that shows if you are registered to vote and sometimes shows where you live.
This has since been removed and Pontins has committed to not reintroducing it.
In its February report, the EHRC said Pontins considered people they thought may be part of the Irish Traveller community to be ‘undesirable’ and that the term ‘undesirable’ was integrated into their data systems and included in their policies.
“In doing so, Pontins deliberately, openly and repeatedly broke the law,” said EHRC chairperson Kishwer Falkner in the February report.
In a statement today, Falkner said Pontins has begun work to introduce strict safeguards and guarantee a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination.
The action plan agreed to between the EHRC and Pontins includes an action plan to strengthen protections for whistleblowers.
It also includes a review of policies and procedures to ensure there are proper safeguards around the refusal to return process, park cancellations and guest complaints, as well as a training programme on equality and diversity.
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