Fury As ‘Out of Touch’ Tourism Agency VisitBritain Bans Words Including Blacklist, Walkthrough and Blindspot
Tourism agency VisitBritain has introduced new inclusive language guidelines, replacing terms like “blindspot” to avoid offence. The Mail has the details.
Instead of man hours, travel agency VisitBritain told firms hosting guests from overseas to say “person hours” as to not to offend anyone.
According to its 50-page language guide, the word “blacklist” should be replaced by “deny list” and ‘blindspot’ by “missed opportunity”.
The company gave out the 18-point inclusive term sheet to foster a “culture of belonging”, but it has been slammed as being “out of touch”, according to the Sun.
VisitBritain – which is funded by the Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport – also warned not to use the term “guru” as it is said to have been appropriated from Hindu culture.
Instead, the £54 million-a-year taxpayer funded agency said to use the term “expert”.
Last year, VisitBritain issued an “accessible and inclusive” toolkit for those in the tourism business.
In the 2023 information pack, the section of “inclusive language” encouraged using positive language when asking about disabilities.
It warned people against using negative language such as “suffers from”, “is a victim of”, “handicapped”, “invalid”, “crippled by” or “wheelchair bound”.
But the new guidance goes a step further, giving business partners a list of words they can and cannot say.
To avoid offending people with disabilities, the word “lame” should not be used in a derogatory manner, with the agency suggesting “uncool” or “cheesy” as an alternative.
In the place of using “sanity check”, VisitBritain advised saying “confidence check”, and instead of saying “man up”, telling people to “be brave”.
Similarly, it advises workers to say “everyone” or “team” instead of using the term “guys” to describe a group, despite it being commonly used in an all encompassing manner for all genders.
The inclusivity sheet was sent to the agency’s partners to “help shape the future” of the events hosted.
The same information pack tell event organisers to cater for those who don’t drink alcohol and to set up “low sensory” rooms, according to the Sun.
It tells partners that: “Words and phrases used for generations are no longer acceptable”. …
The travel agency’s role is to grow Britain’s visitor economy and encourage tourists to explore the country.
It also advises the Government on tourism, providing research and insights into the industry.
Worth reading in full.
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Well, “person hours” offends me. I identify as a tortoise.
Is ‘Lemming’ your name then? Like that fellow from ‘Motorhead’. I am so confused.
Hours are a white construct
Nah, we pinched the idea from someone in the Middle East and they want their reparations, please.
They do not seem to have thought this out very well: try saying “That’s really cheesy” to a Vegan. Why do so many groups and individuals jump through so many hoops in order to prove their insanity? The only one I agree with is “guys”, it irritates the hell out of me when I go for a meal and get barraged with “Hi Guys!!!!!!”, “Okay Guys?!!!”, “Bye Guys!!”. Why not use English instead?
“Hi
GuysTeam!!!!!!”, “OkayGuysTeam?!!!”, “ByeGuysTeam!!”Better? Nah, thought not – me neither.
When instructing I always use, ‘ladies and gentlemen’ until such times as I know their names.
I always like it when a group is referred to in that way, it just sounds classy to me. And as you imply, when you get to know them you use their names which I also like!
That’s obviously hatespeech because it erases non-binary ungentlenonmen.
Britains professional and managerial classes will suck it all up and ensure everyone else who they oversee does so also or they will be out of work. What is to be done? We can only openly express our disgust and do all we can to dismiss the fake Conservative Party that has not only turned a blind eye to this evil in our midst but institutionalised it too.
In German, we have Das ist mir echt Wurst! for I really don’t care about it!
Translated literally, that’s This is just like a sausage to me. I really don’t care about vegans! would thus be Veganer sind mir echt Wurst!, Vegans are just like sausages to me!
This would hopefully come accross as offensive.
😀
Yes, I really object to being labelled as a ‘guy’ I am a woman, female, lass, girl or even at times a lady.
I was very pleased on an Indigo flight for the welcome aboard to to be addressed to ‘ladies and gentlemen’ and ‘boys and girls’ – this is as it should be.
But no one is trying to coerce you into saying “guys”. ——I hate when people say “amazing” all the time. Free thinkers don’t tend to call everything that happens “amazing”. Or another one that people have started using over the last 10 years is “absolutely” instead of yes. —–So irritating
They are perfectly in touch with the ongoing murder/assisted suicide of Western Civilisation
I’m ashamed to admit that over the years I’ve often watched and laughed at this famous Marx Brothers scene, not realising how insensitive I was, but I’m now woke and aware that I should never laugh at it again until the final two lines are altered (using AI) to:
“…That’s what they call a confidence clause.”
“You can’t fool me, there ain’t no confidence clause.”
https://youtu.be/G_Sy6oiJbEk?si=szDI0LAuBvZUMIAp
Farcical and tragic with comedic undertones. It’s like the meme says;
”How did this political correctness get so far out of hand?”
”Who knows? I have to go teach my course on, ”Introduction To Theoretical Contemporary Victimization In Relation To Micro-aggressive White Privileged Anglo-European Imperialistic Western Culture.”
Or: ‘Virtual Insanity’ Jamiroquai.
I would suggest that equating ‘minorities’ with ‘marginalised’ is actually reinforcing negative stereotypes. Who knew that VistBritain where actually far-right fascists??
Dead easy? Not if you’re dead. Must be ableist.
To be included in a future release: regime change
Have I read this right, the Tourism agency recommends that people with disabilities should be called ‘cheesy’ or ‘uncool’? A tad insensitive I would have thought.
“In your heart you’d prefer to stick to Oldspeak, with all its vagueness and its useless shades of meaning. You don’t grasp the beauty of the destruction of words. Do you know that Newspeak is the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year?’ Winston did know that, of course. He smiled, sympathetically he hoped, not trusting himself to speak. Syme bit off another fragment of the dark-coloured bread, chewed it briefly, and went on: ‘Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed, will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly defined and all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out and forgotten. Already, in the Eleventh Edition, we’re not far from that point. But the process will still be continuing long after you and I are dead. Every year fewer and fewer words, and the range of consciousness always a little smaller. Even now, of course, there’s no reason or excuse for committing thoughtcrime. It’s merely a question of self-discipline,… Read more »
Even a decade ago, I was surprised the excellent James Spader vehicle, “The Blacklist”, was able to be released under that name. As for blackballs…
On the basis that “black” anything is offensive, why not ask those who identify as “black” to be honest and call themselves “brown” as that’s their actual colour. All of us who are “white” can then call ourselves “beige” and be done with it.
I identify as a honkie.
I’m very pale pink with freckles, so I object to being called white.
I want to be described accurately and I haven’t found a diversity tick-box list yet which includes “very pale pink with freckles.”
Visit Britain needs terminating with extreme prejudice. Immediately.
Gold plated pensions, working from home, six figure salaries and they produce guff like this, meanwhile tourists are taxed and shocked at the cost of everything here.
Wokery is vomit inducing crap. ——–I remember Mark Twain said “It is better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are stupid than to open it and confirm you are”. ——Every woke pronouncement and pathetic attempt to socially engineer some utopian paradise where no one ever says anything that other people might not like only reveals one thing. The woke would be better to just shut up and people won’t know how dumb they really are.
This is certain to boost tourism. Tourists come because of Britain’s history and traditions like the Transgendering of the Guard and the Nut-eaters of the Tower of London (otherwise known as the Yeopeople of Guard).
Interesting that they’re keen to promote the us of the word “Expert”.
Rather a derisory prefix these days methinks.
And rightly so.
VisitBritain should be VisitEnglandWalesScotland in that case, or VisitWalesScotlandEngland or VisitScotlandEnglandWales
Unfortunately the list of politically incorrect terms “just grow’d”. Obviously this reference back to Uncle Tom’s Cabin and his charming character Topsy is no longer acceptable either!
Sounds like VisitBritain needs to man-up and have a sanity check.
I love writing “Dear Sir or Madam” always have a little chuckle when I press the send button.
Who the hell do idiots like these think they are when trying to control the language and deciding which words/phrases are OK and which not.
Jumped up, puffed up twerps who come up with garbage like this need putting back in their box and informing that there are two meanings of the term ‘FREE SPEECH’.
a) I will say what I think without consulting YOU
b) I will choose the words I use to say what I think without consulting YOU