Green Globe Certification associate, the International Tourism Partnership (ITP), has produced a guide to help hoteliers understand human trafficking and forced labor – what it is, how it may affect them and what actions they can take to reduce the risk of trafficking in their businesses.

Human trafficking is the acquisition of people by improper means such as force, fraud or deception, aiming at exploiting them. It often - but not always - involves people being taken from one country to another, where they are subject to sexual exploitation, forced labor or other types of servitude. In short - it is modern day slavery. This is a relevant topic for hoteliers, because it may be guests or staff at the hotel who are victims of this abuse.

Human trafficking is, by nature, a ‘hidden’ crime, but the scale is massive. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO) human trafficking is the third-largest illicit moneymaking venture in the world, after drug dealing and arms trading, and over 30 million people worldwide are victims of trafficking. Figures on the impact on the hotel industry specifically are hard to come by. However, government and law enforcement agencies pinpoint the hospitality industry as being ‘high risk’, and the increasing number of national initiatives in many countries highlights the growing focus on this issue as one which is particularly relevant for hotels. Whether statistics are available or not, there should be no threshold of interest and engagement with this issue - no level of human trafficking is acceptable.

Human trafficking has to stop, and we as an industry have to use every power we have to end this scourge. The International Tourism Partnership (ITP) and its members have been active on the issue for some years now. Today, they are proud to launch their Know How Guide to addressing human trafficking to inform, encourage and support others in the industry to join the fight.