"If we conformed to every well-intended travel boycott we'd never leave home," mused a well-known traveler upon questioning their recent stay at Plaza Athenee. And they're right. You couldn't fly Air France, PETA says they're the only major airline that continues to ship lab monkeys. No overnighting at Intercontinental according to Free Tibet given the hotelier's entrance into the Chinese-occupied province. Ditto with Hyatt Hotels if you support worker's rights or all of Japan after reading the IFAW's stories of its whale hunting atrocities. And if you dare go, don't even think of taking a photo with a Nikon camera as the company promotes wildlife conservation and yet sells scopes for hunting rifles at the same time. So coming-up on the first anniversary of the Dorchester Hotel Collection boycott, is it time to give our beloved Plaza Athenee and Beverly Hills Hotel another chance?
Last year, the Sultan-controlled government of Brunei joined the ranks of Yemen, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan and Mauritania that use sharia-prescribed punishments in varying degrees within their legal code. Luckily, the Brunei laws have been sparingly applied perhaps because of the boycott or because of the Sultan himself who many describe as more liberal than the very population he rules over. But if you fly Emirates, bank at Citibank, work for or watch a movie from 20th Century Fox or simply post a tweet via Twitter - than you've supported many of these countries or their officials that have substantial investments in each of these companies. So why should Dorchester Collection be singled out?
Recently, a famous pop singer announced he would not attend a party at the Beverly Hills Hotel, yet headlined the Dubai Jazz Festival a few weeks later that promotes tourism to a nation with a more established history of punishing homosexuality than Brunei. Whether inadvertent hypocrisy or succumbing to peer pressure, one must question the idea that complete disassociation can ever truly foster change. It's why we've chosen to cover destinations as controversial as Uganda, Beirut, Russia as well as the Middle East, knowing that the gradual exchange of culture and ideas - not flashy boycotts are the only real catalyst for change.
