Major Brands to Deploy Safety Devices; Competitors Across Lodging Industry Unite to Advance Employee, Guest Protection
Partner at Buckley Sandler and Co-founder of Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund Applauds Progress on Employee Security
Washington, D.C. (September 6, 2018) – Building on decades of investments in safety and security and in coordination with security experts, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and the major hotel brands in membership today announced the 5-Star Promise, a pledge to provide hotel employees across the U.S. with employee safety devices (ESDs) and commit to enhanced policies, trainings and resources that together are aimed at enhancing hotel safety, including preventing and responding to sexual harassment and assault.
In an unprecedented show of unity within a fiercely competitive industry, the CEOs of Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott and Wyndham joined AHLA president and CEO Katherine Lugar and Chairman of the Board Mark Carrier, president of B.F. Saul Company Hospitality Group, for the announcement.
Deployment of ESDs is already underway. Hotel companies in several markets, including New York, Washington D.C., Chicago and Seattle, already provide ESDs to employees, and they are piloting devices in many other markets. Today’s announcement broadens this commitment to hotels across the country, with the goal of broad implementation by 2020.
“We’re proud of the hotel industry’s efforts and are encouraged to see our industry come together in an unprecedented way to make our employees feel safer at work. Hotels have been investing in employee and guest safety for decades, working with experts to continuously update protocols and procedures that keep both employees and guests safe,” said Katherine Lugar, president and CEO of AHLA. “Safety is a never-ending challenge, and the hotel industry is highly committed to be part of the solution. Protecting our employees—as well the millions of guests who stay in American hotel rooms each day—is critically important to our industry. Unfortunately, no industry is immune to dealing with sexual harassment, but we will continue to work, day in and day out, so America’s hotels are secure places for all those who work in and visit them.”
Participating brands or properties will determine the best security devices based on the property’s layout and features, with a range of options including devices with loud noise-emitting features or emergency GPS tracking at the push of a handheld button. AHLA has convened a sourcing task force to assist companies in identifying the appropriate technology for their respective properties.
This approach reflects the segmented and diverse nature of the hotel industry, ranging from large urban hotels to small rural roadside inns to mixed-use properties that combine hotels, apartments, condos, retail, and restaurants. In addition, there are considerable structural differences in building design and layout, construction materials, and Wi-Fi network capabilities within the industry.
With these complexities in mind, AHLA convened a task force of industry experts in 2017 to begin the process of outlining an implementation framework. As part of this effort, AHLA and hotel security experts convened a Safety Summit in July, bringing together lodging executives, lawmakers and security experts to discuss ways to keep employees and guests secure and then shared learnings with members.
The 5-Star Promise represents the hotel industry’s commitment to advance safety and security for hotel employees and guests.
- Build on our industry’s longstanding commitment to hospitality and a People Culture. AHLA will continue providing industry-wide training and materials on safety and security matters, and retain expert guidance, such as Tina Tchen, a partner at Buckley Sandler LLP and co-founder of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, to work with AHLA and its members on workplace diversity and safety matters.
- Ensure mandatory anti-sexual harassment policies are in place in multiple languages.
- Provide ongoing training and education for employees on identifying and reporting sexual harassment.
- Provide U.S. hotel employees with employee safety devices to help them feel safe on the job.
- Broaden vital partnerships with wide-ranging national organizations that target sexual violence and assault and trafficking and promote workplace safety, including the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence (NAESV), End Child Prostitution and Trafficking (ECPAT-USA), and Polaris.
“As an industry, it’s important that we continue to lead around these important issues affecting our employees, building on our longstanding commitment to the hospitality culture and industry,” said Mark Carrier, Chairman of the AHLA Board and president of B.F. Saul Company Hospitality Group. “We are proud that AHLA members are working together on solutions no one company could address alone, and we hope AHLA’s actions will be a catalyst for other industries to follow suit.”
Tina Tchen, partner at Buckley Sandler LLP and co-founder of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, which provides legal support to victims of sexual harassment, assault and abuse in the workplace, has been consulting with the hotel industry for the last several months as it developed this initiative. She commended the hotel industry for coming together for this unprecedented announcement.
“I applaud the hotel industry for taking the initiative and continuing to put employee safety first, recognizing that all people should feel safe while doing their jobs,” said Tchen. “This is an important step that we hope will lead to more industries taking a stand and committing to employee and guest safety. I look forward to continuing to work with AHLA along with experts and advocates to ensure hotels are safe and welcoming for everyone.”
Hotel industry leaders, speaking at today’s press conference offered their individual pledges to advance employee and guest safety and security on their properties.
“At Hilton, all 380,000 of our team members are the heart and soul of our business,” said Chris Nassetta, president and CEO of Hilton. “That is why we are deeply committed to putting their safety and well-being above all else. In addition to implementing anti-harassment and anti-trafficking training across all 5,400+ of our properties, we have already deployed employee safety devices in New York, Washington D.C., Seattle and Chicago properties. Today, I am proud to share that we are expanding that commitment across all our hotels in the United States, deploying safety devices for all team members who service guest rooms by 2020.”
“Our Hyatt family is driven by our purpose: we care for people so they can be their best. There’s nothing more foundational to caring for people than making sure they feel safe at work,” said Mark Hoplamazian, president and CEO of Hyatt Hotels Corporation. “Our strict policies and protocols have never tolerated guest harassment of our colleagues, and we continue to apply fresh eyes to keep pace with changing needs. In fact, we recently revised housekeeping guidance with an eye toward more personal safety. Hyatt also took a leading step last fall when we mandated Employee Safety Devices for colleagues who enter guestrooms across the country’s full-service, managed hotels. Already half of Hyatt’s franchised full service hotels have joined in, and there’s more to come.”
“IHG has a long-standing commitment to fostering a culture of respect and empowerment, which includes a work environment that is free from harassment and expects personal safety. This culture is rooted in IHG’s existing anti-harassment, anti-bullying and human rights policies and standards,” said Elie Maalouf, CEO, Americas, IHG. “IHG takes a holistic approach to employee safety which includes comprehensive policies, mandatory training and safety technology. We continually review and strengthen our policies, and we are translating them into additional languages to reach more employees. We have rolled out mandatory and enhanced workplace training for corporate and hotel employees in the U.S. Building on our track record of providing employee safety technology solutions, we have deployed personal safety devices at hotels in New York, Chicago and Seattle. We will use employee and management feedback to guide a deployment plan for devices at all our managed hotels in the U.S. by 2020. Additionally, we are collaborating with our owners on how best to support our franchised locations. Collectively, all of these efforts reflect our enduring commitment to employee safety.”
“At Marriott International, we believe that everyone should feel safe and secure while fulfilling their work responsibilities,” said Arne Sorenson, president and CEO of Marriott International. “We are testing and deploying associate alert devices to enable hotel associates to press a button to summon help if they encounter a threatening situation. We are working toward deployment of the devices at both managed and franchised hotels in the United States and Canada through 2020 and we continue to explore safety technology solutions globally. With our people-first corporate culture, one of our top priorities will always be to protect the associates who work tirelessly every day to deliver incredible experiences for our guests.”
“The fine people working every day in hotels around the globe are truly what makes hospitality the best industry,” said Geoff Ballotti, president and CEO of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. “At Wyndham Hotels & Resorts we know our team members are our greatest resource, that’s why we take providing for their safety, security and well-being very seriously. Over the next 12 months at our U.S. owned and managed hotels we will deploy Employee Safety Devices to all team members who are assigned to work in a guest room by himself or herself and roll out mandatory, annual anti-sexual harassment, discrimination, and human trafficking training. Additionally, we will provide best practices guidelines and training to our U.S. franchisees, in addition to endeavoring to offer ESD sourcing solutions. Wyndham is proud to unite with our industry today showing our joint commitment to the people who day-in and day-out help make guests’ travels memorable.”
Individual Hotel Brand Commitments to Advance Safety and Security
Building on decades of investing in safety and security, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and the major hotel brands in membership have announced they will provide hotel employees across the U.S. with employee safety devices (ESDs) and commit to enhanced policies, trainings and resources that together are aimed at preventing and responding to sexual harassment and assault. In addition to ESDs, their commitment includes mandatory anti-sexual harassment policies in multiple languages and employee training programs.
In addition, individual hotel brands have made the following commitments:
• AccorHotels: The safety and security of our employees has always been a top priority at AccorHotels. “Feel Valued” is our pledge to our employees, that each will enjoy a positive and fulfilling experience. It reflects our promise to care about employees’ wellbeing and balance, to be open to all, to empower and encourage talent to blossom and to see our differences as opportunities to spur innovation.
For many years AccorHotels regional Learning Academies has included a number of mandatory trainings and code of Ethics signed by our employees. Such programs promote inclusion and diversity to support our anti-discrimination and anti-harassment values. AccorHotels has a strict policy against sexual harassment that is adhered by all properties managed by AccorHotels across the North & Central America region, including the United States. Procedures and escalation protocols are in place to ensure our 25,000 employees are protected, trained and encouraged to report any instances. We also provide mandatory trainings on Corporate Social Responsibility and WATCH (We Act Together for Children is a training and reporting program to fight against sexual exploitation of children).
AccorHotels is constantly transforming and overturning hospitality industry conventions with innovations. We take pride in identifying & leveraging new and emerging technologies, especially when it comes to the safety and security of our stakeholders. One such measure is the deployment of safety devices for employees who enter guestrooms and restrooms unaccompanied by 2020.
• Best Western Hotels & Resorts: Best Western® Hotels & Resorts’ core values, practices, culture, and history embody a commitment to professionalism, integrity, excellence in quality and service, honesty, and treating everyone with dignity and respect.
Consistent with these values, we recognize that employee safety can never be compromised. Likewise, our independently owned and operated Best Western branded hotels are committed to providing a healthy, safe work environment. In this regard, all Best Western branded hotels in the United States are required by end of year 2020 to provide, at no cost to hotel employees, an employee safety device (“ESD”) to any employee who is assigned to work in a hotel guest room or area where no other employee is scheduled to work. This requirement includes Hotels having and enforcing a policy that an ESD must be in the hotel employee’s possession whenever the employee is assigned to work in a guest room or area where no other employee is scheduled to work. Additionally, Hotels are required to have written anti-sexual harassment and assault policies that are provided to employees in multiple languages (applicable to the workforce), and to provide employees with appropriate training to identify and report sexual harassment and assault consistent with hotel policies.
Best Western Hotels & Resorts is dedicated to respecting and protecting fundamental human rights.
• Caesars Entertainment: At Caesars Entertainment, our goal is to provide guests of our destinations world-wide with unique and memorable experiences. We believe our ability to deliver best-in-class service depends on the vitality of our team members. We focus on robust training programs, investing 1.7M hours annually into team member training and development. We also believe the safety, security and well-being of our guests and team members is of utmost importance. We recently implemented a room check policy where hotel personnel enter and briefly conduct a visual check of rooms that have not been serviced or accessed by a team member for a period of time. Also, to help our guest room attendants and other team members feel safe we have equipped them with safety buttons. These buttons allow team members to immediately contact other hotel personnel should assistance be needed. We have also implemented a program where guest room attendants may request the assistance of security personnel while performing their duties should they feel unsafe. Caesars Entertainment is excited about our training programs and security enhancements, and will continue to evaluate how best to serve our over 70,000 team members world-wide, and the 115M guests that visit our properties annually as new smart practices, procedures and technology are developed.
• Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts: Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts is a company guided by the Golden Rule. This simple idea of treating others as you would have them treat you informs every aspect of our business, including our commitment to creating an inclusive environment for our employees and our guests.
Every Four Seasons employee should feel safe at work – free from verbal and physical harassment, bullying, intimidation and any other actions that make an employee feel unsafe. That is why we have robust training programs in place and an array of supports and tools for all 50,000+ employees. This includes an employee hotline and website, administered by an external third party, that allows employees to anonymously report any incident if they choose. Our goal is to ensure employees are protected in their workplace and to ensure they feel empowered to come forward if there are ever issues of concern.
To date, we have or are implementing employee safety devices (ESDs) at five U.S. properties. We are working closely with our property and security teams to pilot a number of options to determine the most effective ESD solution and implementation time frames to meet the unique needs of our diverse portfolio of U.S. hotels and resorts. In addition, we continually review and update our policies and tools to ensure that employee and guest safety is a top priority.
We are deeply committed to creating a safe workplace environment where our employees feel valued, protected and proud to work for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.
• G6 Hospitality: G6 Hospitality is committed to our team members’ safety and well-being. Our team members are our single greatest asset, and G6 Hospitality has implemented multiple measures to ensure their safety. We have written policies against sexual harassment and violence in the workplace, provide multi-lingual training to help team members identify and report harassment and violence, and encourage the use of an employee hotline. We are launching anti-trafficking training to corporate and field team members in Q4, 2018, and will be providing team members at our corporately owned and managed properties with personal safety devices by end of 2019. We are also providing guidance to our franchise community, in the form of brand standards, recommended policies, and product sourcing support for the purchase and implementation of personal safety devices over the next 12 months. We will continue to review and evolve our policies, procedures and brand standards and identify new and emerging practices and technologies to ensure that team member safety is always at the heart of our operations.
• Hilton: Hilton’s vision is to deliver exceptional experiences – every hotel, every guest, every time – and nothing contributes more to an experience than the safety and wellbeing of our Team Members and guests. Our existing commitment includes anti-harassment and anti-trafficking policies and training for our 380,000 Team Members at our 5,400+ properties. We have already deployed employee safety devices at hotels in New York, Washington D.C., Seattle and Chicago, and commit to deploying devices for all Team Members servicing guest rooms at Hilton-managed properties in the United States by 2020. We will also implement the same standards for our franchise community. Hilton does not tolerate harassment of any kind, and we will continue to reevaluate and update our protocols to create a safe and welcoming environment for all.
• Hyatt: The wellbeing of our more than 110,000 colleagues around the globe is foundational to delivering on our purpose: we care for people so they can be their best. Hyatt hotels promote healthy and secure work environments by providing tools, ongoing training, and sharing best safety practices, which includes revised guidance issued in 2017 to conduct housekeeping service with the door closed, while guests are not in their guestrooms, and with the housekeeping cart blocking the door.
Our policies and strict protocols have never tolerated guest harassment of our colleagues. We encourage colleagues to remove themselves immediately from uncomfortable situations and to report misconduct – either to human resources, security, law enforcement, or our anonymous telephone hotline and website. Hyatt hotels promptly investigate all reported incidents of sexual misconduct and harassment, and protect colleagues who bring such issues to our attention or participate in investigations.
Hyatt took a leading step last fall when it became one of the first hotel brands to deploy personal-distress alarms for colleagues who enter guestrooms. This is a brand standard for Hyatt-managed full-service hotels in the U.S., and more than half of full-service franchise Hyatt hotels have joined us as well. We remain committed to evaluating our practices and soliciting feedback so our colleagues feel comfortable and secure at work.
• IHG: IHG has a long-standing commitment to fostering a culture of respect and empowerment, which includes a work environment that is free from harassment and expects personal safety. This culture is rooted in IHG’s existing anti-harassment, anti-bullying and human rights policies and standards.
IHG takes a holistic approach to employee safety which includes comprehensive policies, mandatory training and safety technology. We continually review and strengthen our policies, and we are translating them into additional languages to reach more employees. We have rolled out mandatory and enhanced workplace training for corporate and hotel employees in the U.S. Building on our track record of providing employee safety technology solutions, we have deployed personal safety devices at hotels in New York, Chicago and Seattle. We will use employee and management feedback to guide a deployment plan for devices at all our managed hotels in the U.S. by 2020. Additionally, we are collaborating with our owners on how best to support our franchised locations. Collectively, all of these efforts reflect our enduring commitment to employee safety.
• Las Vegas Sands Corp: The safety and security of our team members has always been one of our top priorities at Las Vegas Sands Corp. The Venetian and The Palazzo in Las Vegas are committed to providing a safe, healthy and inclusive work place environment, and the properties’ extensive training efforts include mandatory anti-sexual harassment trainings for all the approximately 9,000 team members in our Las Vegas operations. As part of our package of initiatives, The Venetian and The Palazzo Resorts plan to deploy WIFI-enabled safety devices for all our housekeeping team members by March 2019 in Las Vegas. We will continue to review best practices through the AHLA going forward to ensure that we remain an employer of choice in our industry.
• Marriott International: At Marriott International, we believe that everyone should feel safe and secure while fulfilling their work responsibilities. Putting people first is a cornerstone of our 91-year corporate culture. Throughout the years, we have developed well established policies, prevention training, and reporting procedures to support a respectful and harassment-free workplace. We train and engage our managers on appropriate responses when charges of sexual harassment occur, and we reinforce a culture of respect and awareness among all associates that harassment from anyone, including guests, business partners, or vendors, will not be tolerated.
Marriott is currently testing and deploying our first phase of associate alert devices in our managed hotels in the U.S. and Canada to enable hotel associates to press a button that will summon help if they feel their safety is threatened while at work. The technology already in use in several markets will take until 2020 to fully install, fine-tune and integrate, and could be used to alert hotel management to other issues an associate may encounter, such as a guest in distress or a threatening situation that might endanger anyone in the hotel.
The implementation of associate alert devices will be a brand standard at both managed and franchised hotels in the U.S. and Canada, with the expectation of deployment through 2020, and we are working with franchise partners to achieve this goal. These types of safety technology solutions, which we intend on exploring globally, will put another tool in the hands of associates and complement our global safety and security training and protocols.
As part of our ongoing efforts, we will continue to work with our associates to identify safety solutions that work effectively for them and across our diverse portfolio of hotels, from urban skyscraper to expansive resorts. One of our top priorities has always been and will continue to be to protect the people who work tirelessly every day to deliver incredible experiences for our guests.
• Loews Hotels & Co: At Loews Hotels & Co, our most important relationship is with our Team Members. Their safety and security is of paramount importance, and we take that responsibility seriously. We provide ongoing training to educate Team Members, at all levels, on identifying and reporting sexual harassment and human trafficking, in addition to having mandatory policies and procedures in place.
We are proud to also join the industry in committing to provide all Team Members, working in guest rooms, in all wholly owned Loews Hotels & Co properties employee safety devices by 2020 and to work with our partners in our remaining hotels toward the same goal.
Our guiding principles at Loews Hotels & Co focus on family, caring about others, serving with integrity and being a good neighbor. Ensuring the safety and security of our Team Members, not only puts their well-being as a priority, but also is the best way we create memorable experiences for our guests, customers, partners and communities.
• Montage International: Montage International cares deeply about the safety and well-being of our associates and guests. We are proud to stand with AHLA as leaders in the hospitality industry to ensure that our associates are safe in their work environments. We currently have anti-harassment and sexual abuse and molestation prevention policies in place across all of our properties. In addition, we mandate comprehensive anti-harassment training for all associates. We provide effective internal reporting procedures, which are available to all of our associates twenty-four hours a day, seven days per week. Looking ahead, we will continue to establish best practices with regard to the safety of our associates and are committed to exploring various safety device technologies for implementation by the end of 2020.
• Outrigger Hotels and Resorts: The Outrigger Way is defined as caring for our hosts, guests and place with our values as our guide. In that light, the safety and security of our hosts have always been paramount at Outrigger Hotels and Resorts. Outrigger is firmly committed to every host being treated with courtesy, dignity and respect while working in an environment free of discrimination and harassment. We have current safety trainings and procedures in place, including mandatory anti-sexual harassment policies and trainings for all Outrigger Hotels and Resorts’ hosts. Recognizing the value of new and emerging technologies to help keep our hosts safe, we plan to deploy employee safety devices for all Outrigger Hotels and Resorts’ hosts that enter guest rooms alone by 2020.
• Radisson Hotel Group: The safety and security of our employees has always been a top priority at Radisson Hotel Group. Our employees are our single greatest asset, and we are committed to ensuring their continued career growth and well-being. Radisson Hotel Group has current trainings and procedures in place including mandatory anti-sexual harassment policies and trainings for our more than 1,500 employees across 18 managed properties throughout the United States. We understand the importance to identify new and emerging technologies that will help keep our employees safe. As such, we plan to deploy employee safety devices (ESDs) for any managed hotel employee who enters a guestroom by his or herself by 2020. In an effort to help our franchised hotels achieve similar goals, we will be working to provide resources and solutions to hotel owners in the coming months.
• Red Lion Hotels Corporation: The safety and security of our employees has always been a top priority at Red Lion Hotels Corporation (RLH) and our associated brands. The associates at all our brand properties are the single greatest asset we have, and we are committed to ensuring their continued career growth and well-being. RLH Corp has current training and procedures in place, including mandatory anti-sexual harassment and safety policies for all our company associates across the United States. RLH understands the importance to continue to identify new and emerging technologies that will help keep our employees safe. As such, we plan to deploy appropriate safeguards for any employee who enters a guestroom by his or herself by in our owned and managed properties in early 2019. We also have training and procedures in place for all our franchise brands to address emergency situations and appropriate response. We continually work with our franchisees to ensure full compliance with current regulations and brand standards regarding safety and security. RLH understands the importance to continue to identify new and emerging technologies that will help keep our guests and employees safe.
• Red Roof: The safety and security of our employees and guests has always been a top priority at Red Roof. Our employees are Red Roof’s single greatest asset and we are committed to ensuring their personal safety and well-being. Red Roof has current trainings and procedures in place which include mandatory anti-sexual harassment policies and trainings for all employees at our corporate managed properties across the United States and at our corporate headquarters. Red Roof also understands the importance of continuing to identify new and emerging technologies that will help keep our employees safe in the workplace. Red Roof has and will continue to engage vendors with the implementation of employee safety device (ESD) technology that will assist in the safety of our employees while performing their duties at the Red Roof properties. As ESD technologies evolve, Red Roof will proactively review additional options that may be more appropriate for each of our unique locations. We will implement a plan to deploy ESD technologies across all corporate managed properties and the ESD will be provided to employees at no cost. Red Roof will also share this initiative with Red Roof’s franchise community.
• Wyndham Hotels & Resorts: Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is committed to our team members’ safety, security, and well-being. Our team members are our greatest asset, and their safety and security has always been a critical priority for us. Over the next twelve months, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts plans to deploy employee safety devices to all team members at our U.S. owned and managed properties, who are assigned to work in a guest room by himself or herself. These devices will be provided to the employee at no cost. Combatting human trafficking and protecting human rights is also a top priority for us and we have anti-sexual harassment, discrimination, and human trafficking policies in place, available in English and Spanish, in addition to training. Also over the next twelve months, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts plans to roll out mandatory, annual anti-sexual harassment, discrimination, and human trafficking training for all team members at our owned and managed properties. Training programs will also be made available to our U.S. franchisee community. We support the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ECPAT, and the Polaris Project in a shared mission to combat all forms of human trafficking, and many of the training offerings we provide are done in collaboration with our long-term partners, ECPAT-USA and the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is further committed to rolling out a best practice guideline to our franchisee community, which will encourage our franchisees to provide employee safety devices to their own employees, endeavor to offer sourcing solutions for such devices for our franchisees’ consideration, and encourage our franchisees to take full advantage of the training offerings available.
Hotel Safety and Security: A Longstanding Commitment to Our Employees and Guests
AHLA believes that when it comes to safety and security, there is no compromise. The hotel industry develops and continually reviews policies that promote a safe environment for our employees and guests.
Our commitment to provide employee safety devices and adopt enhanced policies, trainings and resources around sexual harassment and assault builds on the hotel industry’s longstanding efforts to promote employee and guest safety:
• Hotels conduct training programs to educate their employees on identifying and reporting sexual harassment and assault.
• The hotel industry has deployed employee safety devices (ESDs) in many major markets, including New York, Washington D.C., Seattle and Chicago. Major global hotel brands have also proactively deployed ESDs for their employees.
• AHLA has partnered with the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence (NAESV) for several years to raise awareness of sexual violence and provide hotel operators and managers with training, tools and resources to educate employees on identifying and reporting sexual harassment and assault. As part of these efforts, AHLA and NAESV created an online training program in 2016 to address sexual violence in the hospitality industry and offer tips to combat it.
• AHLA has partnered with national organizations including End Child Prostitution and Trafficking (ECPAT-USA) and Polaris to raise awareness of human trafficking and develop trainings and tools tailored specifically to hotel industry employees. AHLA has hosted multiple webinars and developed and shared a variety of resources on human trafficking for all members. ECPAT-USA has also worked with many hotel brands and companies to implement their six principles for combatting trafficking into hotel operations.
• AHLA partners with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security through the Blue Campaign, which brings together law enforcement, government, and private organizations to combat human trafficking. In 2018, DHS, AHLA and others in the hotel industry participated in a Twitter Townhall to share how we are working to stop human trafficking, what travelers can do if they see something suspicious, and answer questions.
• In 2017, AHLA’s board and executive committee created a task force to examine current procedures and recommend industry best practices, including emerging technology solutions that could be deployed to ensure that employees are quickly able to call for help in the case of an emergency.
• AHLA hosted a webinar and provided other co-branded materials on sexual assault for all members in March 2018. This training is among many resources AHLA and the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) have developed to ensure general managers and hotel operators have the tools and information needed to educate their employees about sexual harassment and assault.
• In July, AHLA hosted a hotel safety summit in Washington, bringing together lodging executives and security experts to discuss best practices for keeping employees and guests secure, and plan further meetings to continue exchanging ideas to advance employee safety.
AHLA has created a sourcing task force comprised of representatives of all industry segments to engage existing and emerging vendors and suppliers of ESDs to communicate the breadth and diversity of the industry’s technology requirements, spur innovation and product development, and support the industry’s rollout of new solutions.
