The International Tour Management Institute (ITMI), America’s premier training and certification program for professional tour directors and guides, will be the first tourism school to integrate human trafficking awareness training into its curriculum. In a ceremony in Albuquerque, N.M. on January 30, ITMI will become a signatory to the travel industry’s international Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism. As a leading force throughout the hospitality industry in the prevention of human trafficking, Marilyn Carlson Nelson, chairman of the Carlson Board of Directors, will speak at the signing ceremony, which will take place during the Institute's annual three-day Symposium.

“The travel and hospitality industry is in a unique position to address this problem and we all have a responsibility to do so,” says Marilyn, who is also a 2010 recipient of the United Nation's Business Leader Award to Prevent Human Trafficking.

“As a leader in the education of tour directors, guides and tourism industry professionals, it is our responsibility to provide our students and partners with the training to recognize and report potential traffickers,” said Ted Bravos, president and chief executive officer of ITMI, in a Dec. 31, 2012, interview in the San Francisco Chronical. “Tourism industry professionals can make a tremendous impact in helping to end this horrific crime.”

Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group’s more than 80,000 employees in 80 countries and territories receive training to deter the sexual exploitation of children in tourism. Front desk hotel employees, for example, are encouraged to look for visual clues, like signs of abuse or fear among potential victims; young people made-up to look older; and clients who pay with cash, are reluctant to provide identification, or have no luggage. For more information on this Responsible Business initiative, contact Brenda Schultz, director, Responsible Business, Americas.