Hotel Bibles Becoming a Thing of the Past

It shouldn’t come as a surprise given the continued trend toward secularism in the United States, but hotel bibles may soon be a relic of the past.

In one recent move, Marriott International is choosing not to place bibles in rooms in two of its newest millennial-oriented hotel brands, Moxy and Edition hotels, reports The LA Times. The company usually places bibles and the Book of Mormon in all rooms.

The move is perhaps a sign of the times. While it’s hard to gauge exactly how many of the country’s 53,000 hotels put bibles in the rooms (major franchises let individual hotels decide), a recent survey suggests the tradition may be fading.

STR, a hospitality analytics company, found fewer hotels are offering any religious materials in hotel rooms. Some 95 percent of hotels did so in 2006; in 2016, that figure dropped to 48 percent.

“Among the reasons for the change, according to industry experts, is a need to appeal to younger American travelers who are less devout than their parents or grandparents and to avoid offending international travelers such as Muslims or Buddhists,” The LA Times posits.

“And then there is this practical issue: Many newer hotel brands install shelves rather than nightstands with drawers next to the bed, making it difficult to be discreet about offering a Bible. A copy of the Scriptures on a bedside shelf makes a more pronounced statement than a Bible slipped into a drawer.”