Hyatt is the latest hospitality group on the US to ban hate groups, revealed CEO Mark Hoplamazian.
Speaking at Skift Global Forum in New York City, Hoplamazian said there’s no place for hate groups at any Hyatt properties.
“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.
“We’re going to apply our values to making these decisions along the way.”
The move comes after the company copped criticism in August for hosting an anti-Muslim hate group at one of its properties in Washington, D.C.
According to Skift, Hoplamazian sent a memo to Hyatt employees last week announcing the policy change, putting an emphasis on inclusiveness and empathy, which he said are “deeply personal to me”.
The CEO accompanied a group of other hotel and travel leaders to meet with US president Donald Trump last month to discuss the importance of conveying a welcoming message to international travellers.
“The purpose of the visit was to focus on things that we’re trying to promote as an industry,” Hoplamazian told Skift.
“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.”
He said the visa waiver program was also discussed.
“We were able to get a commitment to go back and look at policies in place that could expand the freedom to travel.”
