When we talk about justice for survivors, we must recognize that human trafficking doesn’t happen somewhere else it happens in plain sight. And the hospitality industry is one of the frontline venues where this crime is enabled, overlooked, or disrupted. And if you think it’s not happening in hotels in your town, think again.
In the recent article Protect All Children from Trafficking (PACT) CEO Lori Cohen outlines how hotels are uniquely positioned to act because traffickers exploit hotels’ anonymity, guest-turnover, cash payments, and low visibility. This isn’t just a hospitality problem it’s a justice problem. And survivors deserve hotels that are allies, not bystanders.
Why hotels matter in the fight
- Research shows up to 80% of trafficking victims, in some analyses, used hotels in the course of their exploitation.
- Hotels offer the camouflage traffickers need: rooms paid for in cash, high visitation, anonymity, and minimal oversight.
- The industry has both moral and legal obligations: under U.S. law, like the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), hotels may face civil liability when they fail to act on trafficking on their premises.
So if we truly seek survivors’ rights, if we want to dismantle systems of exploitation, hotels must shift from passive venues to proactive protectors.
What hotels must do: Best practices guided by survivor-centered advocacy
1. Train every staff member
From front desk to housekeeping to maintenance: everyone sees something. Common red flags include guests without luggage, frequent visitors to a room, older persons controlling younger guests, guests avoiding contact or delegating check-in, and high volume of cash payments. Training must go beyond “nice to know” and it must equip staff to act safely, refer appropriately, and protect victims.
2. Establish clear reporting protocols, without heroism
Frontline staff must not try to intervene in an unsafe way. The article stresses that attempting a rescue untrained can endanger the victim, the staff, and other guests.
Instead:
- Know the local law enforcement contact.
- Know the national hotline (1-888-373-7888 / Text 233733).
- Create a policy: report, document, preserve evidence, secure the environment if safe.
3. Create institutional culture & accountability
Prevention isn’t a one-hour training it’s a culture shift. Hotels must integrate anti-trafficking into their risk assessments, guest screening, vendor relations, and supply chains.
When hotels treat this as optional, the status quo continues. Instead, hotels must say: we will not be complicit.
4. Balance commercial interests with human rights
There is risk legal, reputational, financial for hotels who ignore trafficking. The article references a Georgia hotel ordered to pay $40 million to a victim trafficked on its property.
But this risk is not the only reason. From an advocacy lens: it’s about protecting dignity, preventing exploitation, and making hotels safe for every guest.
That means prioritizing people over profits, victims over reputation.
5. Partner with survivor-led organizations
Hotels should connect with local NGOs, trafficking coalitions, law enforcement, and advocacy groups. Survivors’ voices matter in policy making, training design, and incident response. Without survivors at the table, solutions will remain incomplete.
Why this matters to survivors
For survivors of trafficking, hotels can represent safety or danger. A staff member’s vigilance can mean the difference between being exploited or being rescued. A lack of response can perpetuate silence, shame, isolation.
When hotels fail to act, they become part of the harm. When hotels succeed they become a sanctuary, a turning point, a place of safety. Advocates must hold hotels accountable to be that sanctuary.
Call to action for the hospitality industry
- Audit your property: What are your blind spots? Where could exploitation occur?
- Mandate robust, role-specific training for all employees, front desk, housekeeping, security, and vendors.
- Create a safe, confidential reporting environment for staff to raise concerns.
- Develop partnerships with local advocacy groups and law enforcement.
- Publicly commit to the standard: No Room for Trafficking.
- Measure results: how many trainings, how many reports, how many interventions. Share best practices.
Our Firm Can Help
The hospitality industry has a choice: to be part of the problem or part of the solution. If we care about justice, about survivors, about human dignity, hotels cannot stay silent. They must act. They must train, they must report, they must partner.
Because while many survivors will never walk into boardrooms or legislative chambers, they may walk into your hotel. And your response in that moment can matter more than the guest sees.
Let’s make hotels safe spaces for everyone. No exceptions. Andreozzi + Foote handles these cases and can provide a free and confidential case consultation. 1-866-753-5458