SACRAMENTO – Officials at the Manchester Financial Group have argued for weeks that a boycott by gay rights and union groups hasn't hurt business at its two San Diego hotels, the Manchester Grand Hyatt and The Grand Del Mar.
But a top company official, in an e-mail obtained by
The San Diego Union-Tribune, painted a different picture, saying the boycott could have dire consequences for hotel owner Doug Manchester that could cost him millions of dollars in lost business.
In a July 29 e-mail to Manchester, Paul Wilkins, chief financial officer for the group, said he believed “this boycott effort will cost you millions of dollars of lost revenue and possibly tens of millions of dollars in lost value for both the Manchester Grand Hyatt and The Grand Del Mar.”
Wilkins, who did not return several phone calls seeking comment, also warned about the dangers of alienating the gay community, which he called a “large and very affluent market segment.”
Further, he said The Grand Del Mar “is still struggling financially” 10 months after opening and the “absolute last thing The Grand needs right now is a boycott.”
Gay rights and labor unions called the boycott in July to protest Manchester's donation of $125,000 to Proposition 8, which would amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage.
Manchester's money, along with contributions by several other prominent San Diego residents, helped provide the funding to put the initiative on the November ballot.
The measure would overturn a California Supreme Court decision in May that paved the way for California to follow Massachusetts as the second state in the nation to allow same-sex marriages.
Since the boycott began, several groups, including the county retirement board and the Association of American Law Schools, canceled events at the Manchester Hyatt, one of the largest hotels on the West Coast.
Manchester, in an interview yesterday, said the fears expressed by Wilkins in the e-mail have not come true because his assumptions were “totally incorrect.”
“He was alarmed at the potential,” Manchester said. “As a matter of fact, we have picked up lots of business since the boycott began.”
Manchester said he was disturbed that the Union-Tribune had obtained the e-mail exchange, which he called a confidential transmission.
A prominent developer, Manchester has been a generous political contributor. State records show that in 2006 he gave about $147,000 to a variety of largely Republican causes.
Manchester said he gave to the effort to ban same-sex marriage because of his Catholic faith – the church opposes same-sex marriage. But, he said, he welcomes gays and lesbians to his hotels and he continues to support gay and lesbian workers.
In a July interview, Manchester said he does not intend to give any more money to Proposition 8.
Yesterday, Manchester said he was rejecting Wilkins' recommendations in the e-mail that Manchester try to defuse the controversy by asking for his $125,000 donation to be returned or by making an offsetting donation to the campaign against Proposition 8.
Wilkins wrote in the July 29 e-mail that his recommendations were motivated solely by his desire to protect Manchester's business interests.
But Wilkins' e-mail angered Manchester.
“I appreciate your rightful concern,” Manchester wrote in a July 29 response, but he added: “I am now really angry and I consider this a personal attack on myself and my family.”
Manchester seemed more conciliatory yesterday, saying the chief financial officer was “attempting to do whatever he felt was right.”
Wilkins wrote that boycotts are difficult to measure.
Most people, he said, will not take the time to explain why they are canceling or not booking at the hotels, but will simply cross “your name off the list of hotels being considered for their next big corporate event.”
“More than 400 companies in the Fortune 500 now provide equality of treatment to their gay employees and these are companies that book our group business,” he wrote.
Wilkins said that the controversy could prompt action from the Hyatt Corp., which manages the Manchester Grand Hyatt. He noted that there have been calls to extend the boycott to all Hyatt hotels and for the company to end its contract with Manchester.
That “could open you up to significant legal liability,” Wilkins wrote.
The Hyatt Corp. has reached out to gay and lesbian customers and employees, earning high marks from gay rights advocates for its efforts.
The campaign against Manchester's business represents a rare use of boycotts in California's expensive ballot battles.
Religious conservatives have used boycotts during the past decade against corporate giants that they believe are becoming too cozy with the gay and lesbian community, including Ford, Disney and McDonald's.
Some analysts say gays and lesbians are a critical market for high-end hotels.
Community Marketing Inc., which serves the gay and lesbian tourist market, has conducted surveys showing that gays and lesbians are more likely to travel than other citizens.
In his e-mail, Wilkins said that “nearly every other luxury hotel in California is actively seeking out and marketing to the gay community to get their business. . . . We should be doing the same.”
One San Diego hotel company, the Evans Hotels, which operates The Lodge at Torrey Pines, has been reaching out to the gay community.
The company has been donating a percentage of its sales from same-sex weddings to help defeat Proposition 8, said Bill Evans, director of operations for Evans Hotels.
Evans said it's the right thing to do, but it's also good business.
“Since we are making money from these situations, we want to support them,” he said.
The latest Field Poll shows that Proposition 8 is losing, with 51 percent of likely California voters against it and 42 percent in favor.
The issue has sparked an intense, emotional debate, drawing contributions to both campaigns from across the nation. Supporters argue that the ban is needed to preserve the sanctity of marriage; opponents say it would deprive gays of their civil rights.
