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A corporate responsibility programme on sex tourism adopted by one of the world’s largest hotel chains is to be extended to parts of South America and Eastern Europe.
The French-owned Accor group says it will expand the initiative, which largely involves making staff more aware of the problem, to Brazil, Romania and Russia.
The aim is eventually to introduce the programme to all areas of the world where sex tourism is rife and where Accor has a presence. The group also wants to set up joint programmes with other tourism companies.
Accor recently moved the programme into Mexico, where more than 150 staff in four hotels are shortly due to complete a training schedule that will help them spot tell-tale signs of sex tourism and raise customer awareness. Other hotel companies in Mexico have now begun similar programmes following Accor’s example.
The group, which owns 4000 hotels in 90 countries under brand names including Ibis, Novotel and Sofitel, and also has casino and catering interests, has expanded the initiative rapidly since it began three years ago with a pilot in Thailand, where 200,000 children are thought to be involved in the sex trade.
Staff receive an in-house brochure on the subject in their induction packs and are taught how to recognize suspicious behaviour, as well as how to raise concerns with their managers. Accor also holds awareness workshops with local people. Accor hotel lobbies display posters stating the penalties for child prostitution and outlining the group’s commitment to protecting children.
In collaboration with Unicef’s Youth Career Development Programme, Accor also trains teenagers from ‘high-risk environments’ in the hope they will find employment in the group’s hotels.
So far Accor programmes operate in Cambodia, the Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Indonesia, Laos, Mexico and Senegal, and cover more than 5000 staff members. The group has trained staff at the head office in Paris and included 500,000 leaflets on sex tourism with tickets supplied by its travel agency arm in France.
Most of the work has been carried out in partnership with Ecpat International, a Bangkok-based network of organizations working to eliminate the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Accor has also worked with the International Labour Organization and national tourism bodies.
Ecpat said industry awareness of how hotels can counter sex tourism has risen recently, partly thanks to Accor’s lead. ‘When we first started campaigning, there were a lot of barriers in the tourism industry. But now concrete things are happening.’
Other companies that have begun work in this area include the travel agent Carson Wagonlit, which has placed messages on five million tickets issued globally.
Accor says that, as well as accepting that it has a social responsibility to tackle sex tourism, it has expanded the programme with an eye on its reputation and any commercial advantage it can gain by ‘being seen as an organization with strong values’.
The French-owned Accor group says it will expand the initiative, which largely involves making staff more aware of the problem, to Brazil, Romania and Russia.
The aim is eventually to introduce the programme to all areas of the world where sex tourism is rife and where Accor has a presence. The group also wants to set up joint programmes with other tourism companies.
Accor recently moved the programme into Mexico, where more than 150 staff in four hotels are shortly due to complete a training schedule that will help them spot tell-tale signs of sex tourism and raise customer awareness. Other hotel companies in Mexico have now begun similar programmes following Accor’s example.
The group, which owns 4000 hotels in 90 countries under brand names including Ibis, Novotel and Sofitel, and also has casino and catering interests, has expanded the initiative rapidly since it began three years ago with a pilot in Thailand, where 200,000 children are thought to be involved in the sex trade.
Staff receive an in-house brochure on the subject in their induction packs and are taught how to recognize suspicious behaviour, as well as how to raise concerns with their managers. Accor also holds awareness workshops with local people. Accor hotel lobbies display posters stating the penalties for child prostitution and outlining the group’s commitment to protecting children.
In collaboration with Unicef’s Youth Career Development Programme, Accor also trains teenagers from ‘high-risk environments’ in the hope they will find employment in the group’s hotels.
So far Accor programmes operate in Cambodia, the Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Indonesia, Laos, Mexico and Senegal, and cover more than 5000 staff members. The group has trained staff at the head office in Paris and included 500,000 leaflets on sex tourism with tickets supplied by its travel agency arm in France.
Most of the work has been carried out in partnership with Ecpat International, a Bangkok-based network of organizations working to eliminate the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Accor has also worked with the International Labour Organization and national tourism bodies.
Ecpat said industry awareness of how hotels can counter sex tourism has risen recently, partly thanks to Accor’s lead. ‘When we first started campaigning, there were a lot of barriers in the tourism industry. But now concrete things are happening.’
Other companies that have begun work in this area include the travel agent Carson Wagonlit, which has placed messages on five million tickets issued globally.
Accor says that, as well as accepting that it has a social responsibility to tackle sex tourism, it has expanded the programme with an eye on its reputation and any commercial advantage it can gain by ‘being seen as an organization with strong values’.
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