Accor first Hotel Group to sign ECPAT Code of Conduct to Protect Children

Accor is the first hotel group to sign ECPAT's Code of Conduct for the Protection for Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism.

The landmark decision marks a major breakthrough in the fight to stamp out commercial sexual exploitation of children in the Asia region. While numerous western tour operators have ratified the ECPAT Code, Accor is  the first global hotel company in the world to make such a strong commitment.

Accor Vice President Human Resources - Asia, Mr Fabrice Tessier, said the company was keen to take a stand on important issues relating to child  welfare, and hopefully signing the Code would set an example for the industry to follow.

"Accor is indeed proud to be the first hotel and resort management company in the world committed to eradicating commercial sexual  exploitation of children. Signing the ECPAT Code is another step in preventing child sex tourism.

"Much of the Code was implemented in Accor hotels around Thailand last year and the project will be expanded in 2003. We want to increase our efforts in protecting children in countries where we manage hotels, and this  is just another step towards achieving that goal."

ECPAT International Tourism Coordinator, Ms Sendrine Fabie, said Accor's ongoing effort supports ECPAT's activities to educate tourism's private  sector, especially hotel companies, on the need to protect children.

"Accor is providing a benchmark for the global hospitality industry to follow. We look forward to expanding our cooperation with them from Thailand to  other countries in Asia and certainly signing the Code helps make others in the travel and tourism industry more aware of the problem."

The ECPAT Code has been designed for the suppliers of tourism services to combat child sex tourism. Many major western tour operators have already  adopted the Code developed by NGO ECPAT Sweden, but Accor is the first hotel chain to join this international project.

In cooperation with ECPAT (End Child Prostitution Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes), Accor has already been  implementing a series of projects to prevent commercial sexual exploitation of children, such as developing skills of young girls at risk and training their hotel staff on how to recognise and prevent child sex tourism.

Accor has also launched its own mission statement for responsible tourism and environmental protection. Most of the key points from the Code of Conduct were included in that statement.