HOTELS

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The Porn Debate
July 26, 2007

A news item came across my desk a few days ago from UK-based Travelodge, which has decided to remove adult entertainment programming from its TV offering in hotels. Travelodge COO Guy Parsons says the company is getting rid of pay-per-view porn to "appeal to the ever-growing number of families" staying in its hotels. Travelodge further announced a 10 million pound roll-out of new flat screen, digital TVs with 18 free, family-friendly channels.

I think this was a very appropriate move for Travelodge as it is responding to guest demographics and, I expect, guest requests. But not everyone has the same customer base as Travelodge.

At the same time, a U.S.-based organization called Morality in Media, as well as other conservative groups, continue to blast hotel companies for selling porn in its guestrooms. These organizations say it is incumbent upon hotel companies to do a better job of maintaining standards of decency.

Putting aside the fact that pay-per-view porn is a huge profit center for hotels, I still don’t think it is a hotel company’s responsibility to make moral judgments on its customer base. They should have the freedom to give their guests what they want, especially in a private, home-like setting. Almost every hotel television I have seen has a system to block such adult programming and, last time I checked, most of the world has freedom of choice. That is the world I want to live in and I don’t need conservative groups trying to legislate morality for me either.

Posted by Jeff Weinstein on July 26, 2007 | Comments (0)