More Motel Discrimination

We've been closely following the evolving story of GK, the sex worker from the Gold Coast that habitually uses motels to conduct her trade.

In a landmark legal decision earlier this year, it was determined that motel operators across Australia, could find themselves in breach of the anti-discrimination laws that exist in every state if they try to turn away prostitutes.

The decision in GK's favour was based upon the simple premise that sex workers using a motel bed to conduct trade should be treated no differently from other guests (ie sales reps etc) that may conduct business in a motel room by using the telephone or internet.

In (hopefully) the last chapter of this story, the beleaguered operators of the Drovers Rest Motel at Moranbah have finally won their landmark case, overturning last year's tribunal decision.

Although the decision was greatly assisted by a rushed amendment to Queenland's Anti-Discrimination Act, it is pleasing that this supports "business owners' ability to decide about what does or does not occur on their premises."

Although discrimination laws in Australia and New Zealand are based on a similar premise, it would probably be a long-shot if a sex worker plying trade from a motel guest room in this country could successfully claim discrimination after being asked to leave. It would take very good legal representation acting for a "victimised sex worker to squeeze a result from our well established Human Rights Act.

It has to be kept in mind that when hurt feelings, entitlement and legal aid is involved, it's not inconceivable that any "undesirable" motel guest could construct case against a hapless Kiwi motel after enduring the humiliation of being refused entry or being tossed out. It's not unknown for courts and tribunals to interpret laws for the benefit of the individual over businesses.

Moteliers in order to protect their business and the peaceful enjoyment of the majority of their guests are required to turn away trade from time to time. Generally the best way for moteliers to manage this is to set tariff at a reasonable level in order to detract an undesirable element.

Although there are legal remidies that the public can persue for alledged discriminatory practices by accommodaqtion providers, probably the biggest consequence is the exposure from trial by media.

We've posted before about the "outrage" that followed the story in the media about accommodation providers in Myrtle Beach South Carolina, that have a location-based "discriminatory" policy of not accepting locals at their establishments. From an accommodation providers' point of view, we can see a sound logic to this policy.

Probably the most memorable local story of  discrimination based on location was the media frenzy that followed  the hapless Palmerston North motelier that directed his wrath upon all residents of Wainuiomata by announcing a ban upon anyone from the town that attempted to to stay at his motel. While the blanket ban was bizarre, extreme and probably bad for business, we defended the motelier's right to operate his business under this policy.

And we have also more recently posted on the lodge owners in Whangarei that exposed their naive bigotry tendencies by insisting that gay couples sleep twin beds. Clearly these zealots are in the wrong business!

Within the accommodation industry, sometimes it is necessary to discriminate in order to maximise returns and ensure happy returning guests. And by discrimination I don't mean turning business away based on race, religion, marital status, religious beliefs, sexual orientation etc - This type of discrimination is clearly a no-go zone!

However for good reason, some accommodation providers may have a policy of not accepting reservations from guests that: only want one-night over a long weekend, sports groups, wedding parties, school ball attendees, stag parties, working girls, locals etc. And this is acceptable...

Accommodation providers that have legitimate discriminatory guest policies should NEVER communicate these with the public. The public have an antenna for any perceived inequity and are quick to play victim with media that are more than willing to ramp up the angst. They will never understand why they could be denied and will always believe that they have a god-given "entitlement" to your services - They do not!

Motel Car Pool

There is something inherently funny about a car that ends up in a swimming pool - particually a motel swimming pool.

The Camry’s driver, who suffered injuries that were possibly life-threatening - not so funny...

Check out the dramatic incident caught on cam.

Patel-No-Tell-Motel

Taking yet another trip over on the dark side of motel-world, we came across, The California Inn. Located in Modesto California, nestled between a busy freeway and a baron industrial park, the motel seems to be typical example of a Patel-No-Tell-Motel that has seen better days.

A  fly-over using Google Maps reveals a classic U-shaped motel with a swimming pool that has been boarded-up, an unsightly shipping container strategically placed near the motel entrance and unkempt grounds.

  TripAdvisor pulls no punches:

This week, the motel has appeared on Fox News after a 14 day voyeuristic investigation into prostitution that is openly sold from the motel's guest rooms, Amsterdam style.

This is a sad indictment and reinforces the stereotype of seedy motels in America.

There are many reasons why New Zealand's motel industry isn't going down this pathway to Hell. Motels in this country offer relatively good value and quality standards. Our economic environment simply dictates that offering seedy, unkempt accommodation facilities is unsustainable (Housing New Zealand seems to have this covered;-)).

And maybe more liberal laws in this country such as legalising prostitution is another reason why The California Inn wouldn't last long in New Zealand.

It is gratifying that we need to look overseas in order to get our regular fix of the dark side of motelling ;-)

Motel Granny Flats?

Here's something a little different...

Generally a motel that is past its best use is demolished to make way for a new-use development that can pay its way and make good of well located land.

Before this occurs, often the motel owners will bide their time and rent the guest rooms on a weekly basis to locals, while others push this theme a little further and unit-title the guest rooms to individually flog them off.

The transition of a motel providing overnight accommodation to the travelling public, to a commercial housing development that accommodates permanent residents is a rocky road that often doesn't turn out well. Unless a lot of money is tipped into the project, a converted motel accommodating permanent residents has a tendency to quickly turn into a ghetto of social rejects.

I see that the Kiwi Motel in Alexandra after falling on tough times, have refurbished their motel in bold funky tones and are planning to market the guest rooms to the local aged community as permanent rentals.

I wonder how that will work out?

"Mature Alexandra residents struggling to find suitable housing could soon have some relief.

Kiwi Motel owners Janet and Philip Lucas have applied to the Central Otago District Council to have the motel's land-use consent changed to allow the units at the motel to become permanent rentals.
There were seven units in total, three with two bedrooms and four with one bedroom, which were used for travellers' accommodation.

However, because of a shift in the motel industry in Alexandra with other businesses expanding and clientele bases being lost, it was proving uneconomical to run a motel with fewer then 12 units, Mrs Lucas said.

''This is the time of the year when occupancy drops and everyone is scrabbling to fill their places,'' she said.

After speaking with real estate agents she found there was a ''gap in the market'' for mature people's accommodation and realised the units would be prefect for someone looking to down-size and not have the responsibility of maintenance.

About 25 per cent of Alexandra's population were over the age of 65, higher than the national average.

The units, which had undergone a stylish upgrade during the past 18 months, were fully self-contained, apart from a shared laundry; fully furnished; had managed grounds, and were close to amenities.

Council planning team leader Ann Rodgers said in the district plan a multi-unit development needed to have 250sqm per residential unit.

Kiwi Motels were over that code.

Council was considering the application"

The Budget - What's In It For Me?

Oh dear, it's Budget day...The day when media pimp a precession of "average" Kiwi battlers that whinge that the government isn't redistributing enough cash their way...

Tourism Hero

Travel is about excitement, fun and sex - it's important that the public feel good about the journey and the car that is used for travellers to arrive at their destination can play a big part.

Bland, insipid new car models do nothing to inspire travel, however cars that evoke passion can turn commuters into travellers.

The release of a car manufacturer's hero model is significant, as the DNA and passion can be filtered down the model range.

I see that Holden's outsourced hero brand, HSV has released their new GEN-F range in Australia with a video below that was made public at midnight last night.

New styling aside, the HSV GTS flagship model is fitted with the most powerful engine ever fitted to an Australian manufactured vehicle - a 430kW & 740Nm power-plant. If that doesn't get your blood pumping - nothing will!

With the Australian government gifting corporate welfare to Holden (and Ford) due to being unable to produce cars efficiently to meet required consumer demands, sadly we all know how the Australian car industry is going to end.

While Australia's car industry may be on its knees, let's enjoy while we can a great story about a niche brand that many consumers admire, but end up purchasing something else.

"Free" Convention Centre Finally Announced

So the SkyCity convention centre deal looks to be done and dusted.

Nothing much has changed from our views on this deal when I posted about this in April last year. The build cost has risen from $350 million to $402 million, the increased gambling concessions of 230 more pokies and 40 additional gaming tables are less than what has been reported in the past...

The Greens have again outflanked Labour by claiming the extreme outraged left and are threatening further economic sabotage by legislative change. Hopefully the mandatory petition that the Greens will be commencing, won't cost the taxpayer as much as their last failed attempt:

"I've been following the SkyCity convention centre story with some interest.

Armchair experts, including the Tourism Industry Association have been long-time cheerleaders of the myth that New Zealand was missing out on substantial tourism dollars by not having the facilities to host large conventions.

Up until recently, there has been a will and expectation that public funding will be required to erect a "nice to have" edifice and ironically this has been blindly supported by various tourism industry groups.

The announcement by SkyCity that they will risk their own capital with plans to build a $350 million convention centre in Auckland's CBD seemed to be good news for hapless Auckland ratepayers and central government taxpayers that were being lined up as reluctant investors in the dynamic loss-making convention industry.

SkyCity's deal with the government is dependent upon an agreement to increase its capped number of gaming tables and machines and extend its licence beyond 2021. It is expected that this will generate sufficient income to compensate for a convention centre that even a wildly optimistic mayor Len Brown claims will only break-even.

And as for the alleged social cost, I'll leave the hand-wringing to the pinkos to worry about the consequences of a small element of the public that are unable to cope with the responsibility of personal choice. Gambling is a legal and legitimate activity and as far as I'm concerned the less regulation and controls for all businesses, the better.

While increasing consumer entertainment choice and relaxing regulation has to be seen as positive, the concept of a government adopting crony capitalism by picking winners is harder to accept.

So should Sky City shareholders be worried? "Brokerage Goldman Sachs last month estimated SkyCity would need 350 to 500 extra machines to profit from the deal, generating as much as $46m of revenue in the first full year of operation."

In order for SkyCity to extract an acceptable return on their $350 million investment and cover possible operational losses of a convention centre, they will need to rely upon their new gambling facilities to perform. And the new convention centre will also need to generate extra traffic through their hotels, bars, restaurants and existing casino facilities.

The  consequences of  the government giving special favours to a private company will be interesting to gauge as SkyCity distort the New Zealand market by building an entity that a free market would not normally allow. On the plus side there will be new inbound business that are attracted to a new facility, however a large share of additional income will come from cannibalising existing domestic conference and gambling/entertainment trade.

SkyCity will need to work its new facility hard in order to minimise losses and this will have unintended consequences for competing businesses throughout New Zealand.

Maybe the tourism industry should have been more careful what they wish for?" 

So, Do Travellers Still Love Print?

Our recent post that busted Jasons Travel faking a video as part of their multi-media campaign "Travellers still love print" has caused a bit of a stir.

The post was about exposing the ambiguous nature of the video's production that when slowed down, clearly showed two Jasons employees "simulate" a brochure stand being emptied by the travelling public at Auckland Airport.

This classic SMOG has caused some embarrassment, however the measure of a company is putting it right - and Jasons has done the right thing by quickly fessing-up, fronting-up and removing offending video with the promise of a replacement - Well done Jasons!

Our post wasn't about attacking print as a marketing channel. In fact we accept that ink and paper is still a valid channel for advertising in the travel industry - for now.

A strength of Jasons is their extensive print distribution network and we are not questioning the large numbers of print collateral that is pumped through Jasons customer contact points.

So, do travellers still love print? Well, in spite of media consumption continuing to shift and fragment the answer is yes!

Travel consumers don't often connect with just one media type - it is common for consumers to touch multiple media types before making final travel decisions.

It is not about print vs. digital. It is about a print + digital where both platforms can co-exist and work together as multipliers.

There is no doubt that digital is the future, however we are currently in a transition point from print to multi-media and even in a disrupted market there remains a passionate, robust market for print.

Watch out for Jasons new modified video that will be released soon on their Love Print campaign website.

Lodge Inflicts Views On Guests

For us, probably the biggest story over the weekend reported in the MSM was about the prissy guesthouse owners that refused a lesbian couple to stay if they slept in a double bed.

From their website, the Pilgrim Planet Lodge in Whangarei offers: "5 modern and stylish king-size, queen-size & twin bed options" all with en-suite. A communal lounge and kitchen is also available to guests within the complex.

As a motel operator, I must admit viewing these types of properties with a bit of disdain. I wonder why the public would even contemplate staying at a horrid guest house or B and B etc. It beggars belief, why anyone would want to stay anywhere that requires you to endure shared facilities and the likelihood of being hectored by unusual, lonely owners, surrounded by their collection of molting pets, ghastly family photos and an eclectic range of homely furnishings.

From media reports, the owners of Pilgrim Planet Lodge seem to fit my one-eyed view of quirky operators that run these types of hobbyist accommodation "businesses". The lodge owners' main quirk appears to be that they are bigots by insisting that gay couples sleep twin beds. They also seem to have a misguided view of lesbian relationships by being hilariously quoted in defense of turning away a lesbian couple: "we don't want sodomy".

My views are that this is a simple case of property rights and if the quirky lodge owners are stupid enough to dictate that only twin sleeping arrangements will be offered for same-sex couples - then so be it. The only rider is that they are obliged to fully disclose that they have these certain onerous house rules before entering into a contractual relationship to sell rooms at their lodge.

Clearly the owners of the Pilgrim Planet Lodge are in the wrong business and their biggest indiscretion is that they make naive and silly business decisions based on their out-of-wack views.

And unlike mainstream accommodation facilities such as motels and hotels, the lodge's owners claim to have the backing of the law, under the Human Rights Act: 

"55 Exception in relation to hostels, institutions, etc
Nothing in section 53 shall apply to accommodation in any hostel or in any establishment (such as a hospital, club, school, university, religious institution, or retirement village), or in any part of a hostel or any such establishment, where accommodation is provided only for persons of the same sex, marital status, or religious or ethical belief, or for persons with a particular disability, or for persons in a particular age group."

The shunned lesbian couple have lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission, so it will be interesting to follow how this case unfolds...

It would appear that the Pilgrim Lodge have knee-jerked into starting a disclosure process to their future guests by adding the following blurb on the front page of their website hosted by AA Travel:

"Pilgrim Planet: B&B guesthouse in central Whangarei, modern accommodation with old fashioned values*

*Our national moral code has been based on generally accepted values which have even guided legislation.  Essentially parliament's concern is matters legal and the peoples' concern is matters moral.  When these line up we have peace and harmony but when politicians legislate against morality, a disconnect  occurs.  Unjust laws need to be questioned for if we fail to do this we will become corrupted by the law instead of edified by it. You are welcome to stay in our home, whatever your beliefs,  so long as you respect ours."

Hmmm...I wonder how that will work out.

Probably the most damaging for the lodge owners is the backlash on social media. I see that the lodge's Facebook page has been shut down after numerous attacks of outrage and the lesbian couple have taken to the review sites to ensure that the world is aware of the owner's quirks.

Interestingly, the aggrieved lesbian couple's extensive "review" has been removed on TripAdvisor, however others remain:

Motella Trophy Cabinet

*Warning - Vanity post follows*

There are many badges of honour that an earnest blogger can earn from pumping out pithy posts from a darkened secret lair while hunched over a keyboard.

Gaining your first obsessive, schizophrenic troll is a monumental occasion in a blogger's life and every spooky contact received can brighten up your day.

Legal and physical threats are another motivation that spurs bloggers on.

Probably the ultimate prize is an actual legal letter arriving via an outraged and confused reader. These letters are rare prized trophies that are to be be savored by exposing the pettiness to the world over several amusing blog posts.

So far I've manged to accumulate a couple of disturbing trolls and have received inarticulate emails threatening a thump on the nose and/or to set a lawyer onto me.

Sadly, I've yet to receive a prissy lawyer's letter.....but probably the next best thing that a blogger can achieve is being tag-teamed by New Zealand's number one blog, Whale Oil after being first to break a story: