This past week I learned about one of the most impressive wellness resort projects in the world—Amaala. The ultra-luxury well destination in Saudi Arabia is slated to be completed by 2028 and will include approximately 30 hotels, an airport, and much more. Sustainability is a cornerstone of the project with the primary goal being a zero-carbon footprint. The project has the support of many international companies. Very impressive. One of the team members behind the project is His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud. It was the CIA’s assessment that His Royal Highness ordered the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident, journalist for The Washington Post and former General Manager and Editor-in-Chief of Al-Arab News Channel. Should that matter when it comes to participating in, or investing in, a project that will create 22,400 new jobs and lure 310,000 visitors a year? The murder of Khashoggi is just one of many human rights abuses common in Saudi Arabia. Would you or your company participate in Amaala? Such a symbol of sustainability? It is quite a conundrum, isn’t it? Or maybe it isn’t?
I often think of a country’s history of human rights abuses when reading about a hotel company’s investment in that country.
In a recent article appearing in Business Travel News, Amon Cohen reports on the “Travel Buyers’ Role in Protecting & Advancing Human Rights.” In the article, Cohen mentions a boycott earlier this year of the Dorchester Collection of Hotels. The group is owned by Brunei Investment Agency, the sovereign wealth fund of Brunei, whose sultan had made homosexual activity punishable by stoning to death.
Says Cohen: “According to LGBT campaign group Stonewall, 72 countries criminalize same-sex relationships and eight consider them capital crimes. Those eight include Saudi Arabia, whose sovereign wealth funds or royal family members are substantial shareholders in several of the world’s leading hotel groups.”
Cohen also mentions China in the article. “Numerous reports have revealed that China has effectively transformed Xinjiang, home to its Muslim Uighur population, into a prison state.” Around 10 percent of the Uighur population of Xinjiang is locked up, according to the U.S. government and human rights organizations. Yet, investment by U.S. companies in China’s hotel industry is massive.
Deciding whether to invest in a country where human rights abuses are common, or where democracy is a sham, is not an easy one I admit. Should the people of a country be punished for the sins of their leaders?
The global hotel industry has certainly stepped up its discussion about the environmental impact of developments in recent years. It is time to elevate the discussion about human rights to the same level.
Your thoughts?
