Orlando Resorts Shun Some Tourists
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Several Orlando companies that offer time-share properties
have told their solicitors not to offer discounted theme park tickets in their sales
pitches to people from certain countries.
``No single Brazilians'' and ``No Portugal'' warns a sheet from the Palms Resort
& Country Club, which was sent to one solicitor and obtained by The Wall Street
Journal. An accompanying list includes 130 qualified countries, including Swaziland and
Vanuatu, and advises, ``If a country is not on this list, please call!'' A similar sheet
from the Cypress Pointe Resort lists ``not accepted'' countries as Israel, Pakistan,
Turkey and India, and also warns against people originally from India who live in the
United States. Other qualifications are based on income, marital status and gender and
age.
Some time-share developers defended the practice, saying it's not worthwhile to
offer tourists $45 theme park tickets for as little as $12.50 if they aren't likely to buy
property.
David Siegel, who runs Central Florida Investments, a large Orlando time-share
company, said anybody is welcome to tour his resorts, but only those from desirable
countries will be given the bargain theme park tickets.
``We have 150,000 families at our resorts, and I think we probably have owners
from every single walk of life, every religion, every race,'' he said. ``But when you're
spending the kind of money that you have to spend to get people to tour your resorts, and
giving out these expensive gifts, then you have to be selective. Or go out of business.''
Chris Larsen, a spokesperson for the Washington, D.C.-based American Resort
Development Association, denied that resorts instruct solicitors to screen tourists on the
basis of national origin. He suggested that perhaps some solicitors discriminate for their
own reasons and without the knowledge of the resorts. When told of the written
instructions sent out by resorts, Larsen said: ``We're not in the business of giving away
free gifts. We're in the business of selling vacations.''
A spokesperson for Orlando-based Sunterra Corp., which owns Cypress Pointe
Resort, said the company in May faxed a statement to its resorts telling them ``not to
base any decisions on race, color, national origin'' or any other status that could be
discriminatory.
Debbie Newton, manager of fair housing investigations for the Florida Department
of Human Relations in Tallahassee, said any practices that discriminate on the basis of a
person's country of origin may violate state and federal laws.
``If you treat people differently based on their national origin ... that's
unlawful,'' she said.
