Prevue November/December 2014 - (Page 18)

good business The Fight Against Human Trafﬁcking Training industry employees to spot the signs is only part of the equation heard of it. I had to create the connection between the issue and what they do. "Not any more," she says. "Now they come over and ask how they can help." Montego Bay Boys and Girls Club ON THE HORIZON CorpTrav signing The Code A round the world, it's estimated there are 21 million people being held as slaves, and many of them cross paths with meeting planners on airplanes, in airports and in the same hotels where events are held. The past couple of years have seen a growing number of planners and travel industry suppliers taking steps to educate and inform their employees and partners. One way to demonstrate the commitment against trafﬁcking is to sign what's known as "The Code," the Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct created in 1996 by ECPAT International, a global network of organizations dedicated to the protection of children from sexual exploitation. Signing companies agree to take six steps toward preventing human trafﬁcking, from providing employees training on how to spot instances of trafﬁcking to creating a clause for all contracts that states a zero-tolerance policy of sexual exploitation. They must report back to ECPAT annually on their activities. Currently, over 1,300 companies in more than 60 countries have signed The Code. Early adopters included Hilton Worldwide, Wyndham Worldwide, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, Sabre, Maritz and Delta Air Lines. During its 25th anniversary meeting in 2013, the Association of Corporate Travel Executives made a strong statement by signing The Code, but no other industry associations have followed. In 2014, 11 more companies in the United States joined the ﬁght, but only three were from the meeting/hospitality industries: CorpTrav Management Group, the Hilton Parsippany and Platinum Travel & Events. Nonetheless, Michelle Guelbart, director of private sector engagement at ECPAT-USA, is far from discouraged. "When I started speaking to meeting planners about this issue a couple of years ago, it was clear that it was the ﬁrst time they had ever even Various initiatives are in the works across the meetings industry, and more and more companies are making demands of their suppliers. Nix has developed a version of The Code speciﬁcally for meeting planners. According to Guelbart, other companies are also starting to include language in their RFPs, among them USG Corporation, Reed Elsevier and Hewlett-Packard. She's developing a list of planners/business travel managers who include language in their RFPs that will be available on the ECPAT website. Also coming soon is an ambitious project initiated by Hackett-The Exchange Initiative-the foundation of which is an app allowing travelers and others to capture hotel room images on their cell phones, which can be matched with photos of Picture caption victims posted online to help locate them. Despite progress, both Guelbart and Hackett feel the meetings industry has a long way to go to reach the point where planners routinely include human trafﬁcking in their discussions with hotels. "I liken it to sexual harassment-it's difﬁcult to talk about," says Hackett. "At one point, that was a topic that was somewhat hidden, but it's now common-and some day, human trafﬁcking will be too."-Barbara Scoﬁdio thecode.org; ecpatusa.org; nixassoc.com; exchangeinitiative.com 7 Signs of a Trafﬁcking Victim 1 Avoids eye contact and seems anxious, fearful or paranoid 2 Tearfulness or signs of depression 3 Unexplained bruises or cuts or other signs of physical abuse 4 Appears to be in a relationship with someone who is dominating 5 Never is alone and/or always has someone translating or answering questions on his/her behalf 6 Not in control of his/her own finances 7 Secretive or unable to answer questions about where he/she lives usccb.org 18 | prevue magazine 18-19_GoodBiz_SeaShores.indd 18 10/31/14 3:02 PM http://www.thecode.org http://www.ecpatusa.org http://www.nixassoc.com http://www.exchangeinitiative.com http://www.usccb.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Prevue November/December 2014

Planner’s Pick: Perez Art Museum, Miami
Fresh Meets: The Evolution of Starwood
Bureau Buzz: Getting to Know Cincinnati
Good Business: Fighting Human Traffi cking
Sea Shores: Cruising Gets Real
The New Local
IMEX 2014
SPECIAL SECTION: ASIA/PACIFIC
SHERATON MACAO
TORCHBEARERS
ENGLAND
On Location: MGM Grand, Las Vegas
On Location: Destination: D.C.
On Location: Generations Riviera Maya

Prevue November/December 2014