10 March 2003BANGKOK - Accor has been awarded the prestigious PATA Gold Award in the Education and Training category for its work with ECPAT ((End Child Prostitution Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes) to fight the commercial sexual exploitation of children.
The honour is equally shared with ECPAT, who provided its “ChildWise Tourism” training programme as the foundation, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) for its co-operation and support in launching the training in Thailand.
Accor, ECPAT and the TAT have also jointly launched Childwise Tourism in Thailand for all hotel general managers and Certified Trainers in 2002. Accor plans to expand the campaign during 2003 to other destinations where its hotels are located in co-operation with ECPAT and the respective National Tourism Organisation in each country.
The employee educational programme trains staff on how to deal with situations involving child prostitution as they arise. Accor has developed a brochure on commercial sexual exploitation of children that is put into the welcome packets for all new employees.