UNITED KINGDOM (LifeSiteNews.com) – Travelodge, one of the largest UK hotel chains, has decided to cut out its pornography option and replace the “adult” channels with family friendly material in order to encourage the growing number of parents and children who stay at its budget hotels.

With branches in Spain, Ireland and the United Kingdom, Travelodge is the fastest growing and most recognized UK budget hotel chain, boasting a total of 20,000 bedrooms. The company recently announced its decision to “appeal to the ever-growing number of families” staying in its hotels by removing the “pay per view” pornography option from its hotel room televisions. In its place Travelodge is investing £10 million in new digital televisions that will offer 18 free, family-friendly channels in order to attract more families.

Travelodge’s chief operating officer Guy Parsons stated in a press release, “We have an ever-increasing number of families staying with us and it’s appropriate that we remove adult TV.” He continued, “Our other customers tell us that they would prefer to use a hotel without adult content available so we have responded to meet their needs.”

“We talk to our customers about all of these issues and often take the lead in delivering what they ask for.”
The release also noted, “Despite losing another potential source of sales by removing the adult channel, Travelodge believes that this move, along with its recent pledge on a smoking ban in all rooms will undoubtedly attract more customers in the long term.”

The number of families and children staying at Travelodge hotels have doubled since 2003. Those staying for “leisure” reasons accounts for 70% of the customers, whereas the other 30%, comprised of people staying on business, are thought to be the main consumers of hotel pay-per-view pornography.

The Texas-based hotel chain Omni Hotel chain also decided to do away with its pornography option in its North American hotel rooms in 2000 at the request of its owner Robert Rowling. Spokesperson for Omni Hotels Caryn Kboudi, was reported as saying, “Our owner Robert Rowling, felt he should not make money from adult movies. People have choices about where they stay but for us-from a pro-family standpoint-it wasn’t right.”

The removal of adult material to increase family clientele is supported by findings showing that easily available pornography causes a number of negative effects in hotels.

In 2005 Northern Irish Assemblyman Dr. Esmond Birnie condemned the policy of the Belfast Hilton Hotel, which allowed for hard-core pornography within its rooms, warning that the availability of in-room pornography is not purely a private matter for individual guests, but that it potentially places hotel staff in a dangerous position. This assertion had been proved true the year before in Norwegian hotels where unionized workers filed complaints about the availability of hard-core pornography, saying that it led to increased sexual harassment of female employees (see http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/sep/05092902.html).

In a 2001 PBS report, analyst Dennis McAlpine estimated that approximately 80% of in-room profits at hotels that primarily serve businessmen come from adult movie viewing, whereas family friendly hotels have very low rates of pornography sales. In major hotel chains, such as Hilton, Marriot, Hyatt, Sheraton and Holiday Inn, where pornography is offered, 50% of the hotel guests purchase the material, and this is said to comprise nearly 70 % of the hotels’ in-room profit.