Holiday company Saga criticised for advertising cruise ‘exclusively for Brits’

‘It’s really awful that they think that’s what people want’

This Saga advert caused a stir (Twitter/@RealMandeville)

A holiday company has been criticised for sending out a brochure advertising a cruise “exclusively for Brits”.

Saga, which offers insurance and trips for the over 50s, has apologised after one customer said they were “outraged” by the promotion.

Anthony Bale tweeted a picture of the ad, which features the slogan: “Exclusively for Brits. Exclusively adults only. Exclusively for over-50s.”

He said his 75-year-old mother was “shocked to receive Saga brochure advertising cruises ‘exclusively for Brits.’ She asked me why they would say this and if it’s legal.”

Ruth Bale, a retired probation officer, told The Guardian it was a “sad reflection” of the state of the nation.

“It’s really awful that they think that’s what people want,” she said, adding that the promotion amounted to “bigotry”.

Mrs Bale also pointed out that, while the majority of cruise guests were British in any case, staff members and crew onboard were generally not.

“Are the staff going to be Brits only? How far does ‘exclusively for Brits’ extend?” she said.

Saga was quick to distance itself from the advert, despite its logo being clearly visible at the top of the page, tweeting: “This is not a Saga brochure. Our partners at cruise.co.uk are extremely sorry for any offence the inaccuracy in their leaflet may have caused.”

A spokesperson told The Independent: “We are extremely sorry for the error in the promotional leaflet that was sent to the database of one of our cruise partners.

“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 worded 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.”