Interview: HotelPlanner CEO Defends His Company's NRA Ties
Skift Take
Stopping people under 21 years old from being able to effortlessly buy assault rifles is a societal decision. But it remains open for debate on how travel companies should treat a gun lobby that opposes such a move.
HotelPlanner is based in West Palm Beach, Florida, an hour's drive north from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where a 19-year old suspect allegedly used an assault rifle and other weaponry to kill 17 students and teachers on Valentine's Day.
While United, Delta, Enterprise, Hertz, Wyndham, and Best Western joined a list of travel companies that have cut their ties to the National Rifle Assocation's member benefits program in the past week, HotelPlanner is a rare company to buck the trend.
The National Rifle Association, a powerful pro-gun lobbying group and member organization that has great influence in Congress and spent upwards of $30 million in 2016 to elect President Trump, opposes raising the legal age to buy assault rifles, one of the demands put forth by gun-control advocates after the mass shooting in Florida.
HotelPlanner is a small, privately held online travel company focusing on group travel that has a business partnership with the National Rifle Association, and powers a website offering below-market rates for flights, hotels, and car rentals to the association's members. HotelPlanner's 160 employees and executives own the company.
Frantic Week
Since the shooting, HotelPlanner has been the target of hundreds of emotional — and sometimes hateful and personally threatening — phone calls and messages oppos
