While a slight uptick in human trafficking surrounds large events like the Super Bowl and the World Cup, the problem affects the travel, meetings and hospitality industries every day. Being in a position to help thwart human trafficking, travel industry professionals have begun raising awareness of the issue.

"I have been finding more and more with arrests of traffickers, there are a couple of things consistent in the arrest stories," explained ECPAT USA director of private sector engagement Michelle Guelbart. "For instance, the exploitation occurs in a hotel setting or the perpetrator is arrested in a hotel setting, so the hotel industry is in a unique position to [observe] traffickers and report cases to law enforcement."

Realizing the tourism industry’s potential role, ECPAT International, a global network of organizations dedicated to the protection of children from sexual exploitation, created the Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct, also simply known as "The Code," in 1996. When a company joins The Code, it must take six steps toward preventing human trafficking, including establishing a set policy and specific procedures against the sexual exploitation of children; providing proper training for employees in regard to children’s rights, the prevention of sexual exploitation and reporting of any suspected human trafficking cases; creating a clause for all contracts that states a zero-tolerance policy of sexual exploitation; making information about human trafficking prevention available to business travelers; collaborating with stakeholders in the prevention of sexual exploitation; and reporting annually on the implementation of The Code.

"In most [human trafficking] arrests, the reason the police were called wasn’t because the hotel industry or the staff saw human trafficking, it was because they saw the indicators and they reported those indicators, whether there was a violent interaction on the property, loud arguments or a suspicious person," Guelbart said. "We work with hotel properties to be able to identify [human trafficking] so it doesn’t go past the front desk."

Some additional warning signs companies are told to look out for include disheveled guests, inconsistent stories between guests who enter the hotel together—confusion about why they are there or where they are coming from—individuals carrying little to no possessions when they arrive, or guests who ask for a room near an exit. "There might be a request for numerous towels, or multiple men might be coming in and out of the room," Guelbart explained. "The trafficker might not be trusting of security, and will not interact with the people that work at the hotel." Similar warning signs also can be seen in airports and on planes, she said.

Several large travel suppliers have signed The Code, including Hilton Worldwide, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Hampton Hotels and Delta Air Lines, which in June 2013 launched its Blue Lightning initiative, a computer training program that provides airlines with tools to help identify and report suspected incidents of human trafficking.

"One way [The Code] is successful is if companies include language in travel buyers’ requests for proposals," Guelbart said. "It’s important to ask suppliers, ‘Do you have a human trafficking policy?’ or ‘Are you a member of The Code?’ and say ‘We’d prefer you did in order to book our event.’ " Guelbart says most hotels and airlines are happy to comply, and many don’t yet realize they are in a unique position to prevent human trafficking.

Once a company signs The Code, using ECPAT’s resources, its employees will go through training to develop the skills needed to identify and thwart sexual exploitation on site. To date, more than 30 organizations in the United States have joined The Code, and hundreds have joined internationally. One Code member, Nix Conference and Meeting Management, even created its own organization, The Exchange Initiative, dedicated to providing resources for preventing human trafficking. The Exchange Initiative currently is developing for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children an online database of pictures of hotel and motel rooms, to help guide groups like the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internet Crimes Against Children if abducted children are photographed in any of those rooms.

Manufacturing company USG Corp. requests that all suppliers it works with be aware of ECPAT’s Code and, if they are not, USG provides information for them. "For at least the last five years, if people aren’t aware of [The Code], I introduce them to ECPAT and let ECPAT be the expert and take over the conversation," said USG senior manager of travel and food services Victoria Gutowski. "I’ve put [a clause about human trafficking prevention] in all of my requests for proposals, and I’ve added a trafficking policy to our meeting addendum." USG’s addendum requires that all properties the company works with have policies regarding commercial sexual exploitation of children, and asks that they attach the policy when responding to RFPs. Gutowski added she would eventually like to begin evaluating destination management companies and convention and visitors bureaus based on their awareness of human trafficking and the prevention policies they have in place.

Some of Gutowski’s industry colleagues have seen pictures of human trafficking victims online and recognized hotel rooms in the background, she explained, demonstrating the value of an image database like the one The Exchange Initiative is developing. "When I started this whole journey, a lot of people weren’t aware of the issue, and now we’re seeing more press around this," Gutowski said. "Initially, when I’d talk to people about this, they were incredulous and wondered how this can be happening in the United States."

Because of heightened awareness surrounding the issue of human trafficking, some buyers are demanding that suppliers become knowledgeable. "We let our suppliers know that we have an expectation and make sure that they are cognizant of it," said Maria Chevalier, an independent travel consultant and former global director of travel and meeting services at Hewlett-Packard. "It’s a requirement versus an expectation, just like ‘going green.’ "

As far as seeing an actual decrease in human trafficking worldwide, Chevalier believes it’s important not to narrowly fixate on statistics. "I say let’s focus less on that, and more on us just trying to be a part of the solution," Chevalier said. "Time is wasted when you debate whether [human trafficking statistics] are higher or lower by decimal points. The reality is, it does exist, and let’s focus more of our energy around solving it through education and collaboration."

International publishing and information company Reed Elsevier includes sections on child and involuntary labor in its supplier code of conduct, modeled after the standards of the United Nations Global Compact. The company signed the UN Global Compact in 2003 and implemented the language into its supplier code around the same time. It’s only become a requirement for suppliers, however, within the last two years.

"Suppliers have to sign our code of conduct before moving forward," said Reed Elsevier director of supplier corporate responsibility Terry Martin.

"We’ve modified [the section on child and involuntary labor] to strengthen the language around human trafficking," Martin said. "There were standards I’d become aware of in the beginning of the year concerning trafficking-related activities, including companies destroying or denying employees access to identity documents. We strengthened the language in our contracts to say that a supplier cannot participate in those activities or treat employees that way."

For suppliers in high-risk areas, Reed Elsevier performs audits every other year, interviewing employees and examining the company’s documents for proof of age of employees, as well as searching for any other evidence of involuntary labor. If a company won’t return an employee’s identification documents until they’ve worked a certain amount of time, "that’s not OK with us," Martin said. "We’ll force suppliers to stop those practices, and they have stopped in the past. To do business with us, they have to comply."

In addition to signing The Code and including language addressing human trafficking in RFPs, some companies are starting their own initiatives. Sabre Travel Network launched its official human trafficking prevention program, Passport to Freedom, in September 2012. "Prior to that, we started internal conversations," said Christina Scott, the program’s chairperson and Sabre senior managing director of Latin America and the Caribbean supplier commerce. "It was something we knew we needed to get involved in."

Sabre then-CEO Sam Gilliland spoke to Marilyn Carlson Nelson, former chairman of travel and hospitality company Carlson Inc., and "recognized through that conversation that anyone who was involved in travel is kind of unwillingly participating in this crime," Scott said. "Airlines could be transporting perpetrators and victims; travel agencies could be booking their travel. [Sabre] could potentially have a role in the crime and not know it. Therefore, everyone should be responsible for the solution."

Scott was assigned to the Passport to Freedom project, discovered ECPAT’s Code and began devising ways Sabre could "galvanize around the topic," she said.

"I’m really proud of how the program has matured over the past year and a half. It’s all come to fruition through volunteer efforts, through people being interested in what it is and launching it in their own city, in their own country. It’s been a total grassroots effort that’s ultimately now become part of [Sabre’s] DNA."

Since the launch of Passport to Freedom, 30 percent of company employees worldwide voluntarily have undergone program training. Last year, Sabre launched a program in Uruguay, and the organization also has programs in Krakow, Poland and Bangalore, India. "Sabre employees not only in the United States but around the world have discovered they are in a position to make a positive impact on the cause," Scott said. "Since so many of our customers and suppliers would ask what training for this kind of thing looked like, we went ahead and deployed that training on our website publicly, so anybody can take it."

In addition to online training for customers and suppliers, Sabre works with local and international human rights organizations, including the International Justice Mission in India and the Covenant House in New York, to help raise awareness of human trafficking prevention. "Primarily, the Covenant House deals with the homeless population, but a significant percentage of the homeless population are trafficking victims, so we try to maintain a focus on trafficking," Scott said.

The company also holds events worldwide to raise funds for nonprofits that work to prevent human trafficking. "Every event is different based on location, culture and audience," Scott said, calling one event held last year in Uruguay "a massive undertaking. They had a local musician who created a song about Passport to Freedom, and a 5k race to raise awareness, with all funds donated to local nonprofits." Sabre also worked with Mosaic Family Services in Dallas to refurbish a safe house for human trafficking victims. In the future, Sabre plans to launch a formal Passport to Freedom certificate program for industry professionals.

Last year, Sabre put together a training day at the company’s headquarters in Southlake, Texas, for all law enforcement agencies in the state. "We did a full day of human trafficking awareness training," Scott said. "As a direct result of that training, just two weeks later, there was [a human trafficking victim] who was pulled off the street, rescued by a police officer, and taken to a safe house to receive counseling and treatment."

Recently, Sabre teamed with Marriott International to join the World Tourism Organization, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to launch the campaign, "Your Actions Count—Be a Responsible Traveller," created to educate travelers about the threats of illegal trafficking, including that of humans. Sabre and Marriott will share trafficking-related alerts with their travelers and guests through internal traveler technology.

Ultimately, Sabre wants to see technology used as a "definitive instrument for thwarting [human trafficking]," Scott said, also noting that visual databases like the one Exchange Initiative is developing are "critical to determining trends."

"It can help us to find the patterns of these criminals and stop the crime before it happens," she said.

Scott hopes that Sabre can harness its existing technology, like its fraud-tracking capabilities, and repurpose it to help fight human trafficking. "Our intent is to bring together some critical thinkers in the areas of technology, travel, government and non-government, and have the conversation of how we can best make this happen."

In addition to buyers, business travel associations are beginning to get involved in the fight against human trafficking, including the Los Angeles Business Travel Association. "We’re encouraging our members to sign The Code," said Jennifer Keltner, the association’s director of corporate social responsibility. The GBTA chapter also is looking for ways to tie in the participation of local police and hotel groups.

"We want to bring in some closer relationships with local police and law enforcement," Keltner said. "Without hotels and law enforcement in tandem support, the programs won’t be successful. We want the police to feel like they have the right partners."

This report originally appeared in the July 28, 2014, edition of Business Travel News.

Business Travel News ©July 2014