Saga
apologises for advertising cruise 'exclusively for Brits'
Firm says
statement in brochure was an error and that all nationalities are welcome
Rob Davies
@ByRobDavies
Thu 19 Sep
2019 11.55 BSTLast modified on Thu 19 Sep 2019 20.05 BST
Saga, the
insurance and travel company for the over-50s, has apologised after customers
were sent a brochure advertising a cruise “exclusively for Brits”.
Twitter
user Anthony Bale, who is a university professor, said his mother was
“outraged” after being sent the magazine, outlining the characteristics of the
cruise.
He posted a
photograph of the promotion, which read: “Exclusively for Brits. Exclusively
adults only. Exclusively for over-50s.”
Anthony
Bale
✔
@RealMandeville
Outraged
phonecall from my mother: she was shocked to receive @SagaUK brochure
advertising cruises “exclusively for Brits.” She asked me why they would say
this & if it’s legal. 🤷🏽♂️
(Also, in
terms of grammar pedantry, “Exclusively Adult Only” + “For Over 50’s” is
distressing)
View image
on Twitter
1,159
11:06 AM -
Sep 19, 2019 · Hammersmith, London
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Shortly
after Bale posted a photograph of the brochure, the “Over 50s lifestyle”
section of the Saga website went offline, followed by the entire website,
reappearing later during the morning. It is unclear whether the website fault
was related to the promotion.
Saga
subsequently apologised, insisting that people of all nationalities were
welcome on its tours and cruises.
“We are
extremely sorry for the error in the promotional leaflet that was sent to the
database of one of our cruise partners,” said a spokesperson.
“Whilst
inside the leaflet it mentions our cruises depart from UK ports only, the
wording that was intended to highlight this key benefit on the front cover was
interpreted incorrectly and was wholly inaccurate.
“Saga
Cruises have a proud heritage of welcoming anybody over the age of 50, of any
nationality, onboard our cruises. The error has been corrected with immediate
effect and we would like to apologise for any offence this may have caused.”
It said
cruise.co.uk had drafted the wording but admitted that Saga had signed off on
it.
Bale’s
mother, Ruth Bale, 75, a retired probation officer, told the Guardian she was
shocked to receive the brochure. “I think it’s a very sad reflection that it’s
seen as a marketing point, that you’d want to go on a cruise exclusively
composed of one nationality.
Rob Davies
@ByRobDavies
· 21h
Replying to
@RealMandeville and 3 others
Wow. Would
you or she speak to The Guardian about it by any chance?
Saga
✔
@SagaUK
This is not
a Saga brochure. Our partners at http://cruise.co.uk are extremely sorry for any offence the
inaccuracy in their leaflet may have caused. Saga cruises all depart from the
UK but we welcome anybody, of any nationality, over the age of 50 on our
cruises.
3
12:20 PM -
Sep 19, 2019
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Chris
Gardner, chief executive of cruise.co.uk, owned by private equity group
Bridgepoint Development Capital, also apologised for the “error”.
“The
wording is not a reflection of what we intended. It’s a mistake that I need to
get to the bottom of and who allowed those words, which I can understand are
offensive.
“All we can
do is apologise for any offence that was caused, it doesn’t reflect our
company.”
While Saga
came in for criticism over the content of its marketing material, shares in the
company surged by more than 15% on Thursday, as profits fell by less than
expected.
Profits
were cut in half to £53m for the six months to the end of July but the company
insisted that an overhaul of its insurance business was bearing fruit.
But it
warned that Brexit has hurt its travel insurance business and made consumers
reluctant to commit to holidays in 2020/2021 after earlier anticipating an
impact only this year.
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