Hyatt Hotel Announces it’s Going to Stop Hosting Hate Groups
Hyatt Hotels has announced they will no longer host hate groups in their spaces.
The decision comes after one of their hotels in Virginia hosted an annual conference for an anti-Muslim group.
At the Skift Global Forum in New York City on Thursday (27 September), CEO Mark Hoplamazian announced the decision.
‘If a group is primarily focused on disparaging a group by virtue of their identity…that’s really where we need to draw the line,’ he said.
Hoplamazian also added that traits like empathy and inclusiveness are ‘deeply personal to me’. He also clarified that groups like the anti-Muslim one in Virginia are an ‘infrequent’ form of business for Hyatt.
Hyatt employees also received a memo the same day announcing the new policy change.
Hoplamazian and other travel CEOs met with Donald Trump earlier in September to discuss the United States’ policy as a welcoming country for travelers.
‘The purpose of the visit was to focus on things that we’re trying to promote as an industry,’ he explained.
‘We talked about extending a message of warm welcome to the rest of the world which we feel is critical. Our pitch is that that’s actually most effective when it comes from the top. We didn’t get any commitments on that but we think we made our case.’
Since Trump took office, people coming to the US have face significant problems, from the Muslim ban to separating families at the border.
Hoplamazian added they also discussed the visa waiver program with the President.
‘We were able to get a commitment to go back and look at policies in place that could expand the freedom to travel,’ he said.