Hyatt Hotels Defends Hosting Anti-Muslim Hate Group, Even As Competitors Shut Their Doors
Source: Think Progress
By Sam Fulwood III, Aug. 31, 2018, 8:45 am. The hotel chain even offered conference attendees discounted rates.
Defying pleas and petitions urging Hyatt Hotels to not host to a well-documented, anti-Muslim hate group, officials with the hospitality conglomerate said Thursday they would move ahead with plans to provide accommodations and discounted rates next week for guests attending the ACT for America conference at a suburban Washington, D.C. location.
ACT for America, which dubiously describes itself as “the nation’s largest and most influential national security organization,” plans to host its 10th annual national conference at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, a convention hotel in northern Virginia that’s located a mile or so from Reagan National Airport, and just across the Potomac River from the National Mall in downtown Washington, D.C. For attendees who registered before the August 17th deadline, Hyatt offered a “special hotel room rate” of $299.
Outraged by the hotel chain’s coziness with ACT for America, an organization identified by both The Southern Poverty Law Center and The Anti-Defamation League as an anti-Muslim extremist and hate group, a coalition of civil rights organizations and activists on Thursday delivered a petition with 100,000 signatures and a letter co-signed by 34 different faith groups demanding Hyatt refuse to host those attending the September 4-5 events.
In a letter addressed to Hyatt Hotels President and CEO Mark S. Hoplamazian, the Rev. Ron Stief and Kathryn Mary Lohr- co-chairs of Shoulder To Shoulder, a coalition of 34 religious denominations and organizations that advocate for fair treatment of American Muslims- expressed the group’s “deep concerns about this event and Hyatt’s decision to host it.”...More...
Read more: https://thinkprogress.org/hyatt-hotels-anti-muslim-conference-aa0c38b5d733/
Mila Delfin, an exec. asst. to the general manager at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, said the hotel was aware of concerns about the convention and had received numerous calls from people inquiring about the meetings. But, Delfin said, the company “made a decision not to discriminate against any group because they have freedom of speech, too. We made a decision not to cancel this meeting.”
Earlier this summer, Hyatt showed strong support for “major diversity and inclusive initiatives,” stating in a news release that it had joined the CEO ACTION for Diversity & Inclusion initiative and had signed on to the United Nations LGBTI Standards of Conduct for Business.
Hyatt’s rationale for welcoming an anti-Muslim organization didn't satisfy many among the protesting groups who claim the hotel chain places profits over human decency. “Other global hotel companies are denying hate groups,” said Scott Simpson of one group leading the crusade against Hyatt’s decision.
He said Hilton, Wyndham, Airbnb, Accor Hotels, and InterContinental Hotels among those who have refused to allow hate groups to stay at their establishments.
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