CAMAS, Washington, Aug. 27 – AAHOA, the largest hotel owners association in the world, and Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST) announced an expanded partnership in an effort to educate and enlist more hoteliers, state lodging associations, and hospitality industry partners in the fight against human trafficking. The expanded partnership includes a free co-branded anti-trafficking online training for AAHOA members and certification for those who complete the training. The trainings will be available in English and Spanish for group or individual training, and there is free training for managers. AAHOA’s and BEST’s partnership is also expanded to include promotion of the training through AAHOA’s vast network of state lodging associations and industry partners. AAHOA and BEST announced the expanded partnership at AAHOA’s annual Northwest Region Charity Golf Tournament.



AAHOA Chairman Hitesh (HP) Patel said, “With over 18,000 members who own one out of every two hotels in the United States and employ over 600,000 people, AAHOA is proud to build on our partnership with BEST to train more of our industry in how to identify and combat human trafficking. It can be difficult to identify trafficking, whether it is commercial sex trafficking or labor trafficking, because each situation is different. With the proper training, hoteliers and their employees can save lives, protect their guests, their reputations, and their businesses.”

Human trafficking is a crime that impacts some of the most vulnerable members of our communities, including American children as well as documented and undocumented immigrants who are coerced into prostitution or forced into work situations that they cannot leave. Hotel staff are often the eyes and ears of the community. They are well-placed to recognize the crime and help vulnerable people to escape exploitation, keeping our communities safe from this type of crime.

“Hoteliers are one of the first lines of defense against human trafficking,” said AAHOA President and CEO Chip Rogers. “Employees who know how to identify the signs of trafficking and are trained to respond appropriately can help keep criminal enterprises out of their communities and, more importantly, help trafficking victims. That's why AAHOA's partnership with BEST is so important – together, we can empower hoteliers and their employees to be the difference in stopping trafficking situations.”

“This is a significant development for BEST and AAHOA,” said Mar Brettmann, PhD, Executive Director of BEST. “With an increased awareness of human trafficking and its effects on victims and communities, more businesses are stepping up to help combat this exploitation. Hoteliers are playing a vital role in preventing this crime. By promoting anti-trafficking training throughout the industry, we can ensure that traffickers and people who buy exploited people cannot use hotels to commit their heinous crimes.”

BEST is a Seattle-based nonprofit that helps employers understand how they can stop human trafficking by consulting on best practices, providing employee trainings, and developing model policies for businesses. AAHOA and BEST have partnered together to educate the hotel industry since 2014. In 2016, AAHOA sponsored BEST to create industry-specific training that is available online at
http://training.bestalliance.org.

Recently, we were able to speak with Alison Galioto, VP of Operations for Hospitality Associates, a northwest based hotel management group, about why she has worked so diligently to make sure her hotel staff at their 26 hotels are trained on how to handle human trafficking. “Some of the activity is obvious,” Alison explains, “I’ve seen women wearing hardly any clothing and they would come in with a man who paid in cash. The paying in cash is a definite sign. Sometimes they said they didn’t have a bank account or were not able to check-in with a credit card in their name. Sometimes they would check in under a name you could tell was a false name.” But other times, Alison says, “It’s not always so obvious. If they wear everyday clothes, and they do use a credit card, and are not bringing in a lot of men, sometimes it’s hard to see. That’s why we want to do this training, so our staff are able to detect the less obvious signs of sex trafficking.”



​Though she’s a VP of Operations now, Alison started her career in the hotel industry working as a housekeeper for a hotel in Grand Coulee, Washington. From there she became a front desk clerk at a hotel in the Spokane Valley before moving on to become a general manager at a hotel in Seattle. Throughout her career journey, she has personally witnessed some of the tell-tale signs of sex trafficking in hotels. This knowledge and first-hand experience has made her even more dedicated to educating employees working on the front-lines. According to Alison, front-line staff first need to be aware that sex trafficking can happen even at nice hotels and it is not a victimless crime. Second, they need to know what indicators to look for and how to report the crime when it happens. Just these simple things can help more girls, boys, women, and even men, escape a life of sexual exploitation.

Alison shared a story with us about a time when her staff successfully intervened to help a young woman in need. The employees at the front desk heard two women arguing loudly in a public bathroom in the hotel. There was a young woman and an older woman, who had not yet checked in, and the employees were able to tell that the younger women was in distress. The two women took their argument to the parking lot where it became physically abusive. Judging that she was safe to do so, one of the front desk employees intervened in the argument and brought the young woman back into the hotel while the older women drove off. She explained to the front desk staff that she had been offered a ride to California, but instead was brought to the hotel where the older woman tried to coerce her into trafficking. The hotel manager called the police and the FBI Task Force came to help the young woman with her situation. It’s rare to have the chance to intercede before any sexual exploitation occurs, but this young woman was lucky enough to find herself at a hotel where the staff didn’t look the other way. Alison’s staff may have saved this young person’s life.
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It’s stories like this that make Alison determined to create a workplace culture where employees know what to do when they see potential sex trafficking. With 26 hotels in the ownership group, BEST was so thankful when they chose to partner with us for this training. In fact, Hospitality Associates have already trained their senior-level management at their corporate retreat last year and are now rolling out the staff training to all of their properties throughout Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, and Montana. BEST is providing Hospitality Associates not only with training, but also with informational posters to be displayed in the employee break rooms, indicator cards describing possible warning signs, and instructions on what to do if staff see indicators of sex trafficking.

When we asked Alison if she had any advice to give to other VP’s who are thinking of implementing training, she said, “I had to really keep pushing for this training to happen, and I’ve been pushing for about two or three years. I know this is an uncomfortable topic, but you can present it in a way that makes it not uncomfortable. BEST’s videos really help with that. It’s important. It’s just part of running your business. These are some of the important talks we need to be having with our staff.”