A boycott is, inherently, a blunt instrument. It is an imperfect weapon, a carpet bomb, when all involved would prefer a surgical strike. -- Conor Oberst
When it came to booking hotels around the world, it used to be enough to know prices, room types and best views, location, service standards and a bit about the neighborhood. Only the folks at the Wall Street Journal and perhaps a handful of local real estate reporters had any interest at all in knowing whose name was on the property's deed.
Today, that appears to be changing as celebrities and groups advocating the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals (LGBT) have joined together to boycott a few of the world's iconic luxury hotel properties solely because they are owned by the sultan of Brunei, who has embraced and ordered the strict enforcement of Shariah law in his tiny realm.
Shariah is a moral and ethical code based on the Quranic verses and on the examples set forth by the prophet Muhammad. In its strictest implementation, which Brunei has embraced, it is, by Western standards, simultaneously barbaric, homophobic and cruel.
The version of Shariah laws that began going into effect on April 30 in Brunei includes punishments such as flogging, dismemberment, beheading and death by stoning for crimes such as rape, adultery, sodomy and blasphemy in addition to homosexuality. It also mandates strict curbs on public behavior, dress and women's rights in both domestic and civic life.
The LGBT community in Europe and America is not the only group that finds this interpretation of Shariah law abhorrent, but it might well be the group with the most to lose as travelers.
And, since the travel community in the U.S. has been among the nation's most progressive in terms of acceptance of all lifestyle choices -- and the most progressive, I might add, in terms of gender and age equality -- we are justifiably tuned in to the welfare not just of LGBT travelers but of indigenous communities abroad.
In addition, the treatment of women under strict Shariah law is anathema to Western cultures. They can be beaten by men for insubordination, and a woman who reports having been raped is not allowed to testify against her attacker in a Shariah court. Women can't drive a car because it could lead to fitnah, a sense of upheaval or sedition.
While it is true that under Brunei's strict Shariah law, theft can be punished by amputation of the right hand and criticizing Allah or simply being a nonbeliever is punishable by death, some of the most vicious aspects of this code are those that apply specifically to people who embrace an LGBT lifestyle.
Brunei, the first Eastern Asia country to adopt Shariah law, is about the size of Delaware. Independent only since 1984, Brunei is a land of mangrove swamps and forests that are being rapidly depleted. The discovery of the Seria oil field in 1929 made it the richest country in Asia and earned the sultan a place on the list of the world's 30 wealthiest individuals. His capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, has a population of just over 80,000, hardly enough to support a decent deli.
These days, the sultan is a bit worried about dwindling oil reserves, so to diversify the economy, he has made Brunei a leading financial center and has expressed the desire to make his country a destination for luxury travelers and ecotourism. Somewhere along the line, he apparently received some bad marketing advice about his tourism aspirations, and in April, he announced that he was phasing in new measures as part of his endorsement of strict Shariah law, including death by stoning for anyone found guilty of homosexuality or adultery.
The Beverly Hills Hotel is one of the bedrocks of the Dorchester Collection, which is owned by the sultan. Soon after his announcement, groups within the LGBT community organized protests and set up picket lines in front of the hotel. Companies and organizations were urged to cancel functions there. Conventions and other events were canceled, and soon the protests spread to other parts of the Dorchester Collection, including the Plaza Athenee in Paris.
Of course, the Beverly Hills Hotel itself and the community it serves were never exactly paragons of virtue. Situated in the heart of the area where Hollywood taste-makers and wannabes conduct interviews, screen tests and tete-a-tetes about script changes and projects, it didn't take long for a gaggle of outraged Hollywood celebs like Jay Leno and Ellen DeGeneres to make the short drive over to join the picket lines and help publicize the cause.
I am not sure how much consideration has been given to the staff, particularly the hourly, tip-dependent workers who will be directly hurt by these protests and cancellations. One thing I know for certain: The sultan can well afford the downward spike in bookings that will likely occur. But I wonder about the maids, the housemen and the wait staff, all of whom have contributed over the years to creating the very highest levels of service and discretion at this property.
And, please note, they have done so while looking after the pampered and the entitled in our country's most challenging ZIP code for the delivery of truly memorable services. After all, the guests of this hotel have seen it all.
Still, I suppose, we can't very well fly to Brunei, so picketing a hotel in the U.S. or Europe to protest its Shariah law-wielding ownership in the Middle East will be as close as we can get to a feel-good sense of accomplishment.
But before we get too righteous about the evil sultan, I think we must also consider some of our own history. The U.S., fueled by our American brand of Judeo-Christian culture, puts more people in prison than any other nation on earth. Our religions promise a life of torture and torment in a burning inferno for nonbelievers, and our holy books and history books alike reveal thousands of wars, murders, executions and atrocities attributable to our particular brands of faith. We're not perfect.
We also have a long history of prejudice against sexual, religious and racial groups, in the name of the righteousness. We save some of our worst venom for the 20% or so of our population who do not buy into any of the religions offered on the country's moral and lifestyle menus.
Against that background, it seems to me we must be careful in selecting the targets of our wrath. Is the Dorchester Collection the appropriate target? And is this the right time for the protestors to expect to have any impact on the sultan's hotel investments?
There is no clear ethical road map for the travel consultant. If we go down the road of refusing to book our clients in certain hotels that are owned by rulers who favor repressive laws against nontraditional sexual practices, where will that road eventually take us?
Contributing Editor Richard Bruce Turen owns Churchill & Turen Ltd., a luxury vacation firm based in Naples, Fla. He is also managing director of the Churchill Group, a sales training and marketing consultancy. Contact him at rturen@travelweekly.com.