“…front desk 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…housekeeping staff might be alerted to criminal activity if there are an unusually large number of electronic devices in guest rooms, or many condoms in the wastebasket…”
THE travel industry — long an unwitting participant in human trafficking at hotels and on airplanes, trains and buses — lately has been increasing efforts to combat the problem, working with private advocacy groups and the federal government in long-term, coordinated initiatives that go beyond its normal philanthropic activities.
“People don’t realize how prevalent it is,†Sam Gilliland, chief executive of the travel technology company Sabre Holdings, said of the trafficking problem. “It is not restricted to certain areas in the world. It’s everywhere.â€
He called human trafficking a $32 billion-a-year business, but the Polaris Project, an advocacy group, thinks it is higher. The group said that an estimated 21 to 27 million people globally are held as virtual slaves.
Stephen Barth, a lawyer and professor of hospitality law at the University of Houston, said he believed that among the travel industry’s major brands, awareness of the problem had become widespread. “The goal now is to create more awareness among the 50,000 independent hotels scattered all over the U.S. and around the world,†he said.
But challenges remain, particularly among cheaper properties. “Franchisers don’t actually operate the franchised hotels,†which can result in variable compliance, he said. And at some properties, both franchised and independent, security might consist of only one person at the front desk.
For more:Â http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/09/giving/the-travel-industry-takes-on-human-trafficking.html?emc=eta1&_r=1&
