WASHINGTON—More than seven in ten U.S. travelers would be deterred from booking a hotel room in Los Angeles if hotels there are forced to house homeless people next to paying guests. That’s according to a new national poll commissioned by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and conducted by Morning Consult.
Los Angeles residents are set to vote in March 2024 on whether to require all local hotels to house homeless people next to paying guests as part of a ballot initiative proposed by Unite Here, a labor union that represents L.A.-area hotel workers.
If Unite Here’s ballot initiative passes, Los Angeles would become the first city in U.S. history to force hotels to house homeless people next to paying guests. The AHLA poll highlights the deterrent a policy like this would be to tourism and hotel stays in the city.
The poll of 2,203 U.S. adults was conducted Sept. 18-20, 2023. Findings include:
- Seventy-two percent of U.S. travelers said they would be deterred from booking a hotel room in Los Angeles if hotels there are forced to house homeless people next to paying guests. That number jumps to 83 percent among those who have previously visited Los Angeles.
- Seventy-one percent of U.S. travelers said they would be deterred from visiting Los Angeles for leisure or vacation if hotels there were forced to house homeless people next to paying guests. That number jumps to 80 percent among those who have previously visited Los Angeles.
- Seventy percent of U.S. travelers said they would be deterred from attending a business conference in Los Angeles if hotels there are forced to house homeless people next to paying guests. That number jumps to 79 percent among those who have previously visited Los Angeles.
- Equal numbers of U.S. travelers (71 percent) said they are concerned about the safety risks to hotel staff and guests caused by forcing all L.A. hotels to house homeless people next to paying guests.
- Seventy-one percent of U.S. travelers said they are concerned about hotels reducing the amount or quality of amenities if the city forces all LA hotels to house homeless people next to paying guests.
- Seventy percent of U.S. travelers said they are concerned about the risk of damage to hotel property caused by forcing all L.A. hotels to house homeless people next to paying guests.
- Seventy-five percent of U.S. travelers said they are concerned that forcing all L.A. hotels to house homeless people next to paying guests ignores the root causes of homelessness, and 74 percent said they are concerned that the policy fails to address long-term housing needs of homeless people.
- According to the City of Los Angeles Initiative, Referendum & Recall Petition Handbook, Unite Here can withdraw the ballot initiative as long as it does so 88 days before the election, or Dec. 8, 2023.
So far, Unite Here has refused to take this step. Instead, Unite Here leaders have made their insistence on housing homeless people in hotels next to paying guests a focal point in collective bargaining negotiations with L.A.-area hotels. Unite Here has demanded that hotels support the practice.
Additionally, the Los Angeles City Council has yet to hold a hearing regarding the economic impacts this policy would have on the city. AHLA is calling on the council to hold an economic impact hearing as soon as possible and to enact a resolution in opposition to Unite Here’s homeless in hotels ballot measure to more clearly inform the public of the council’s stance on the measure.
“Homelessness is a serious and complex problem that can only be addressed by professional social and health care workers with specialized training. Unite Here’s insistence on forcing hotel workers and guests to deal with this issue is dangerous,” said AHLA President and CEO Chip Rogers. “If Unite Here succeeds in turning all L.A. hotels into homeless shelters, eventually there will be no hotels—and no hotel workers—left in the city. Safety concerns will prevent workers from taking hotel jobs and drive tourists to other locations. That’s a fact, and these poll results prove it. That’s why we’re calling on Unite Here to drop its dangerous demand to turn hotels into homeless shelters—in LA or any other city where they might try it.”
