The American Hotel & Lodging Association, the American Hotel & Lodging Foundation (AHLA Foundation), and ECPAT-USA announced at a World Day Against Trafficking in Persons Awareness Event that over 500,000 hotel workers have been trained through the industry’s free human trafficking awareness training since it was released in early 2020.
That number is in addition to nearly 100,000 Marriott workers, who have completed the training, “Your Role In Preventing Human Trafficking: Recognize the Signs” in 2020. The training was produced by Marriott International in collaboration with ECPAT-USA and Polaris and was made available to the industry for free with the support of the AHLA Foundation, an ECPAT-USA corporate partner in protection.
“Training plays a critical role in prevention efforts and being able to train nearly 600,000 employees during such a difficult year for our industry is a testament to the industry’s commitment to human trafficking awareness and prevention,” said Chip Rogers, president, and CEO of AHLA. “Our No Room for Trafficking Program sends a loud and clear message: we will not tolerate human trafficking in the hotel industry, and our commitment to training and education will continue to make a difference.”
Joined by Tricia Primrose, Global Chief Communications & Public Affairs Officer at Marriott International, and Lori Cohen, CEO at ECPAT-USA, the event highlighted the hotel & lodging industry’s long-standing legacy and commitment to combat trafficking and featured an announcement by Marriott International to donate its new enhanced human trafficking awareness training to the industry in early 2022 to help further educate the entire hospitality industry. The event also featured a short human trafficking prevention training session showcasing Marriott’s enhanced training.
“ECPAT-USA is honored to be part of this astounding achievement,” said Lori L. Cohen, CEO of ECPAT-USA. “We thank AHLA, Marriott International, and all our partners in the hotel industry who have made ending human trafficking a priority at their organizations. To have been able to make such an impact in just over a year is an incredible example of the industry’s commitment to child protection.”
Launched three years ago, the “No Room for Trafficking Program” was designed by AHLA and the AHLA Foundation to help unite the industry around one comprehensive approach to prevent human trafficking with the goal of training every employee in the industry. The AHLA Foundation will continue to offer additional resources to members to raise public awareness and facilitate collaboration on best practices for policies, procedures, and training to enhance our human trafficking prevention efforts. For additional resources on the No Room for Trafficking Program, visit https://www.ahlafoundation.org/human-trafficking.
