BELFAST – The Belfast Hilton is offering hard-core pornography on a pay-per-view basis, motivating one politician to condemn the action, saying that, despite the immorality of it, it will lead to dangerous working conditions for hotel staff.
Northern Ireland Assemblyman, Dr. Esmond Birnie, a leading opponent of the normalization of pornography in the British Isles, said “I am sure many will be disturbed by reports that the Belfast Hilton is providing its guests with access to hardcore porn films.”
A similar situation in Norway prompted unionized hotel staff there to file complaints with lawmakers last year because pornography viewing by hotel guests was a frequent cause of sexually harassment of female staff. “It can be very unpleasant to get called to a room to be met by a naked man,” said union official Eli Ljunggren, according to a BBC report from 2004. “Some have found themselves in the presence of men watching X-rated movies and several have been accosted.”
Dr. Birnie, Ulster Unionist MLA for South Belfast, said, “The Hotel seems to take the view that what is watched in a room is purely a matter for each guest. Sadly, however, this is not the case. The availability of such material could have some impact on the staff who have to work in the Hotel and move around the rooms.”
Dr. Birnie blamed British authorities in London for allowing the degrading x-rated entertainment in the hotel. “It seems the Hilton got its permission to show such material from the London Department for culture and media,” he said. “Yet another case of how a metropolitan morality is now being imposed here in Northern Ireland.”
Dennis McAlpine, a partner in McAlpine Associates, who has tracked the entertainment industry for over two decades, said that the big hotel chains like Hilton, Marriot, Hyatt, Sheraton and Holiday Inn, which all offer adult films on in-room pay-per-view television systems, are purchased by 50 percent of their guests, accounting for nearly 70 percent of their in-room profits. One hotel owner said, “We have to have it, our guests demand it,” according to a CBS News Special Report.