As the company did with its original training, Marriott plans to donate this training and work with ECPAT-USA and the American Hotel and Lodging Association Foundation to make it widely available in early 2022 to help educate the entire hospitality industry.
“Marriott International has been a crucial ally in ECPAT-USA’s child protection work for years, including developing critical training that gives hotel associates the tools and resources to be able to identify and respond to human trafficking,” said Lori L. Cohen, CEO of ECPAT-USA. “Half a million hotel associates [from other companies] have already completed the existing e-learning program since we made it available in 2020, and the new information and innovative features of this updated training will facilitate an even greater impact. Awareness of and training on these issues are essential for members of the hotel and hospitality industry, and we are so grateful to leaders in the private sector like Marriott for their long-term collaboration on this issue.”
“Training plays a critical role in prevention efforts, and we are extremely grateful for Marriott’s generosity to provide these innovative human trafficking awareness trainings for free to the industry in collaboration with ECPAT-USA and Polaris with the support of the AHLA Foundation,” said Chip Rogers, president & CEO, American Hotel & Lodging Association. “We have already been able to train half a million hotel workers since the original training was launched for free in 2020, and these new trainings will continue to help us get closer to our goal of training every hotel employee.”
For its updated training, Marriott collaborated with Polaris, which operates the National Human Trafficking Hotline in the United States, to develop storyboards, select scenarios based on calls to the Hotline, and prioritize the wellbeing of potential victims. Marriott also worked with survivor consultants and ECPAT-USA’s Survivors’ Council to incorporate meaningful input from survivors throughout the training development.
“Polaris is proud to join with Marriott International and a team of survivors to create this crucial resource. This training goes beyond general awareness of signs to equip hotel workers with the tools to respond to trafficking situations in ways that are appropriate, nuanced, helpful, and most importantly, survivor-centered. By designing interactive scenario-based exercises and updating guidance for managerial staff around how to interact with potential victims and survivors of human trafficking, our hope is that this training enables hotel workers to become a valuable resource for trafficking victims around the world,” said Catherine Chen, CEO of Polaris.
