A “clean” alternative to Travelocity

By: American Decency Staff

“… The following is an article from Citizen Magazine, Focus on the Family that I wanted you to be mindful of as you consider over-nite lodging. There are clean alternatives.
[CleanHotels.com, a searchable – and bookable – travel Web site similar to Expedia or Travelocity]

“We would ask anyone traveling this simple question: Why would you give your money to pornographers, when you have the opportunity to choose a hotel that does not profit from selling hard-core pornography?”

Quoting:

Cleaning Their Rooms
http://www.citizenlink.org/citizenMag/A000005374.cfm
by Daniel Weiss

…

THE CLEAN ALTERNATIVE

With all that porn around, what can people do to avoid it?

To aid conscientious travelers, Citizens for Community Values has developed CleanHotels.com, a searchable and bookable travel Web site similar to Expedia or Travelocity.

“We are offering a positive alternative to people who want to stay in a safe environment,” Burress said. “Our whole goal in this is to give people an alternative as to where they can stay and to take the money away from the guys that are selling pornography and give it to the good guys.”

Launched in 2002, CleanHotels began simply as an online list of the porn-free, or “clean”, hotels in the United States. Since 2005, CleanHotels.com has provided online hotel bookings, drawing from a database of about 15,000 porn-free facilities.

Chris Meyer, whose company Tripium worked with CCV to build the CleanHotels Web site, hopes more organizations start thinking about the implications of sending staff to pornographic hotels.

“Do they want their employees staying at hotels with the temptation, and do they want their employees watching porn?” he said. “Is that good business? Is that healthy? If they don’t think it is, they should enact policies that require their employees to stay at hotels that don’t offer porn.”

Even with relatively small numbers, CleanHotels is starting to influence the lodging industry.

“The hotel industry is talking about this,” Burress said. “It’s a conversation at almost every trade show: Did you hear about those people who are trying to get us to stop selling our pornography?”

“I think we’re making a difference.”

Industry insiders say a hotel receives $1 to $2 per film, a small amount when compared with the potential loss of guests who choose not to stay at a hotel that’s profiting from porn.

“How many times does a hotel have to lose a room for the $2 they make on a porn movie?” Burress asked. “We will see a huge difference when Christian groups and churches and organizations start booking their conscience.”

That’s what clean hotels are banking on to offset their losses.

According to The Broadmoor’s Bartolin, in fact, people have more power over hotels than they realize.

“Hotels really listen when it comes from their guests. If their guests are telling them this – and it has an impact on their business – they’ll listen,” he said. “It costs money to recycle, but if enough guests tell hotels they want to see that in places they stay, hotels will recycle. I think the same thing has application with this decision. I think once guests speak out about their feelings, ultimately, the hotels will take note.

Meyer expects that many Christians will struggle with their consciences.

“Changing behavior is hard to do,” he said. “People have got to want to, and people have got to start standing up and saying, ‘enough is enough.’ You’re going to have to sacrifice something.”

Burress said any sacrifice is minimal when compared to the costs of family breakdown:

“We would ask anyone traveling this simple question: ‘Why would you give your money to pornographers, when you have the opportunity to choose a hotel that does not profit from selling hard-core pornography?'”

Daniel Weiss is the senior analyst for media and sexuality for Focus on the Family Action.

American Decency Association
Bill Johnson, President
P.O. Box 202
Fremont, MI 49412
PH: 231-924-4050
www.americandecency.org

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