Hull travel agent’s warning after gay holiday-makers wanted to book ‘illegal’ Maldives trip – Hull Live
A Hull travel agent is warning same sex couples of the risks of travelling abroad to countries where gay relationships are banned after recently having to warn a couple about the risks of them booking a holiday to the Maldives.
Andrew Earle, who has a string of branches in Hull and Lincolnshire, has issued the warning after the couple recently inquired about the long-haul luxury holiday destination, unaware that public displays of affection between same sex couples in the resort can lead to eight years imprisonment and 100 lashes.
Andrew said it’s a “difficult conversation” to broach, but staff have to ask about the nature of their relationship when booking certain exotic locations for couples.
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And with more and more long-haul destinations opening up once more, he has issued a warning to those who are unaware that their holiday displays of affection could potentially land them in prison.
He said many people book their holidays online themselves, where the “questions are not asked” and they could find themselves turned away at the check in on arrival, in the worst case scenario.
A staggering 77 countries out of 292 destinations do not welcome same-sex couples – making a quarter of holiday destinations out of bounds unless couples are willing to conceal their relationship or be cautious while out in public.
(Image: Insight Photography Ltd 2018)
Andrew said: “We were recently challenged with finding a gay couple a holiday and they wanted the Maldives, not realising that same sex relationships are banned and they would have to conceal the nature of their relationship.
“We are seeing people wanting to book long haul after not holidaying for two years, and this is something that people need to be aware of. It doesn’t mean same sex couples cannot go to these countries, but they need to be mindful of local rules and customs, or there could be an issue.”
Many countries, such as the whole of Africa, including South Africa; India; Sri Lanka; the Seychelles; Barbados; Egypt; Turkey and Morocco are unwelcoming of gay and lesbian couples.
Andrew added: “Plenty of people travel without an issue, but public displays of affection such as kissing and hand-holding could potentially lead to an arrest and an awful lot of people are completely unaware.”
He said online booking can be problematic for that reason.
“The computer will happily take your money and no questions are asked, but if you later cancel for this reason you may lose your deposit. I am not telling people what they can or cannot do, but if you book a holiday to Bali, for example, as a same sex couple, you could find on check-in that you’re not able to have one room and you need to buy a second room, and that can become very messy,” he added.
Andrew’s travel firm Andrew Earle’s Holidays, won an award for High Street Agency of the Year in the Agency Achievement awards last week.
It was welcome news, coming on the back of a recent rise in foreign holiday bookings, which Andrew said it is the first flickering of life returning to ‘normal’ in the UK travel market after a very turbulent 18 months.
The travel boss, who is working “24/7” adapting to all the ever-changing travel regulations around Covid, as well as covering for staff on furlough, said his business earnings have plummeted from £30million of annual sales to £6million during the pandemic.
However, his Cleethorpes shop took 21 bookings on Saturday, which is a “huge amount” which gives him hope that the decimated UK travel industry could be starting to recover.
“We been told that 58 per cent of adults will not travel at the moment, but we are expecting people to want to travel in 2022. But we are seeing people booking more expensive holidays now, they’re treating themselves a bit more than normal with upgraded hotels and bigger cabins on cruises.
“It’s been an absolutely horrendous time, and I have been working from 7am to 9pm throughout, but we hope it is slowly improving now,” he added.
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