Should Groups Boycott Destinations?

Poll Shows Most Planners Oppose Boycotting

How do Meetings Media readers feel about boycotting? According to a recent poll of our readers, which elicited 708 often heated responses, a majority does not believe boycotting a destination over political issues is a good idea. However, a fairly sizable minority—over a third—believe there are times when boycotting is justified.

When asked if it is right for an organization to cancel a meeting or boycott a destination because it objects to local legislation, 37 percent of the respondents agreed, while 63 percent disagreed.

When asked if a legislative issue had ever affected a choice of a meetings site, 20 percent of the respondents said it had, while the remaining 80 percent said it had not.

A third question gave respondents the chance to voice their opinions pro and con about boycotting. Here are a few of their comments:

Should Groups Boycott Destinations?

By KATIE MORELL

Mention the words “Arizona boycott” to a meeting planner and you’re sure to get a response far more animated than a shrug of the shoulders, because boycotting destinations in response to political issues is an issue that cuts straight to a person’s social outlook and livelihood.

So it’s no wonder that when Meetings Media reached out to meeting planners to discuss the Arizona meeting boycotts, there was no lack of emotion on both sides of the issue.

On April 23, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed SB 1070, one of the strictest immigration laws ever written. Its most controversial aspect, which some fear will lead to racial profiling and others say only enforces existing federal law, is that it directs law enforcement officials to ask for documentation from people they suspect of being in the United States illegally.

The actual wording of SB 1070 provides room for interpretation itself, in the opinions of many:

“For any lawful contact made by a law enforcement official or agency of this state or a county, city, town or other political subdivision of this state where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States, a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person.”

The law is scheduled to go into effect July 28, various city governments, associations and corporations are boycotting travel to the state, and many meeting planners are finding themselves stuck between that proverbial rock and a hard place.

Mixed Feelings
“I have mixed feelings,” says Joan Eisenstodt, meetings and hospitality consultant, facilitator and trainer for Eisenstodt Associates, LLC, based in Washington, D.C. “First of all, I understand the hit that this could be for the state of Arizona and for the people who work in our industry. It has been a very bad two years. Everyone has suffered and business is down.

“On the other hand,” she continues ...

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Poll Shows Most Planners Oppose Boycotting (continued)

“It hurts all the wrong people, and therefore I don’t agree with it. I live in Arizona, I OBJECT to the new law as do many. But cutting off the livelihood of Arizonans hurts all of us, whether we are for it or opposed to it. It’s not hurting Jan Brewer or the legislators that created it, if anything it’s doing exactly what they wanted it to do…create attention.”

“I think this kind of pressure will cause businesses and municipalities to pressure the state legislature to overturn this policy.”

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