ATLANTA, Ga., July 2 – AAHOA Interim President and CEO Rachel Humphrey praised the American Hotel and Lodging Association’s (AHLA) No Room for Trafficking campaign to unify the hotel industry in combatting human trafficking. Humphrey joined other industry leaders, anti-trafficking advocates, and partners from government and law enforcement at the campaign kick-off in Washington, D.C. last week.
“The No Room for Trafficking campaign complements current efforts across the industry and will help streamline a comprehensive approach to education, outreach, and training protocols. With brands, organizations, and government agencies all developing anti-trafficking trainings and educational tools, AHLA’s efforts to coordinate activities will help ensure a consistency to our industry’s efforts to end the scourge of human trafficking,” said Humphrey.
As part of the initiative, AAHOA is partnering with AHLA to conduct a series of regional trainings that will bring together hoteliers, employees, elected officials, and law enforcement to help form a united front against trafficking. These expanded trainings will be conducted as part of AAHOA’s Regional Conference and Trade Shows starting with an event in Atlanta in early August.
Traffickers prey upon legitimate businesses, such as hotels, to conduct their illicit activities because of the privacy guestrooms offer and the transient nature of hotel guests. To educate hoteliers about trafficking, AAHOA’s developed its Human Trafficking Awareness Training in partnership with Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking and Polaris. The training is a valuable educational tool for hospitality workers that helps raise awareness of sex and labor trafficking and how to identify and respond to potential trafficking situations.
“Ending human trafficking requires our industry and our allies to work together closely,” said AAHOA Chairwoman Jagruti Panwala. “By facilitating a dialogue and coordinating the activities of lawmakers, law enforcement, anti-trafficking activists, and hoteliers and hospitality workers, we reaffirm our commitment to keeping these traffickers out of our hotels, and out of our communities.”
For more information about the No Room for Trafficking initiative, please visit https://www.ahla.com/issues/human-trafficking.
