ENABLERS
10.2 A model of inter-stakeholders’ partnerships against child sex tourism
How the model works and what it does
At the core of the model presented is the tourism sector’s acknowledgement of accountability on the human rights impacts of its operations. The tourism indus- try is not accused of fomenting development of abusive situations. However, the private sector is asked to react against the use of its networks and establish- ments in circumstances leading to human rights abuses, such as in the case of child sex tourism.
Responsibility of the tourism sector in this field has been defined as direct, or indirect, potential. Direct responsibility corresponds to those businesses who knowingly publicise, promote, and receive sex tours, as well as to the operators of
A Model for Multi-stakeholder Partnerships on Human Rights in Tourism 83 establishments and premises where abusers meet and sexually exploit children, namely, accommodation facilities, entertainment centres, leisure areas, etc. Tol- erating such activities implies complicity and complacency of the private sector.
Indirect or potential responsibility also corresponds to tour operators, travel agents, other carriers and airlines, who become aware that they are used as vehicles carrying declared or potential sex offenders to the destinations.
The model for socially responsible behaviour calls for a public commitment of the company to support awareness raising, and to have a preventative approach to situations of abuse. This is particularly called for in poor countries of the devel- oping world. The model intervenes at key points within the tourism supply chain, and sets in place tools empowering the private sector to prevent child sex tourism while simultaneously improving the quality of the tourism product.
This process takes place at different levels in the tourism supply chain (see Figure 10.1):
x At corporate level, through ethical policies and staff training;
x In relation to suppliers, by introducing specific clauses in commercial con- tracts;
x In relation to the customers, through awareness raising and by providing relevant information;
x In relation to civil society, by empowering local stakeholders through di- rect capacity building and annual reporting.
Figure 10.1. Operational framework
84 Camelia M. Tepelus Under this operational framework, distinct competencies of various stake- holders are brought together to address a grave human rights issue in a coor- dinated manner. Implementation activities take place both in originating (tour- ism sending) countries, and in destination (receiving) countries (see Figure 10.2). Monitoring of the model is facilitated by a multi-stakeholder, coordinat- ing body of international standing, which is supported by the leading IGOs working on the child sex tourism issue.
Code Steering Committee, UN agencies WTO, UNICEF Sending country
government
Private sector Tour operators, hotels,
travel agents, airlines
Receiving country NGO ECPAT, local service
providers, others
Receiving country government Sending country NGO
ECPAT, others
Figure 10.2. Institutional stakeholders playing a role in the implementation of the model
Development of the model and its current status
This system of public-private partnerships started with implementation in Scan- dinavia, and expanded to other tourism-sending European countries during 2000 – 2004. The model was introduced in North America in 2004 and in Japan in 2005, and there are ongoing actions for testing it in Eastern Europe with the support of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Over 250 companies, including tour operators, hotels and travel agencies from 21 countries are currently implementing this framework world- wide. Companies engaged in this process include both large, well-known brands such as Accor, CarlsonWagonlit, Radisson, TUI, Kuoni, etc., as well as small local hotels or travel agents. This expansion was possible through a proc- ess of knowledge transfer and dissemination that followed two different paths: a corporate and an NGO path.
The corporate path focused mainly on transfer of knowledge intra-company, across borders. Multinational companies that had positive experiences with the
A Model for Multi-stakeholder Partnerships on Human Rights in Tourism 85 implementation of the model in one country were able to transfer this know- how in other destinations. For instance, Accor Hotels Asia, starting from the pilot implementation of this model in its Accor Bangkok Hotel in Thailand, moved then to expand training and awareness to Accor staff in Laos, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Dominican Republic, Mexico and French Guyana.
The NGO path focused mainly on capacity building in tourism destinations.
Consultations, seminars, training sessions and visits, were carried out in desti- nations in the process of monitoring the implementation of the model. Experts from tourism-sending countries went to destinations in tourism-receiving coun- tries in order to review the effectiveness and create local know-how. Often, when the suitable political and social factors were in place, awareness cam- paigns originating abroad were subsequently pursued independently in the re- ceiving country by NGOs, local or national governments.
This model was internationally recognised as a successful approach to CSR in tourism, being awarded in 2003 with the British Airways Tourism for Tomor- row Award in the Large Scale Tourism category. More than 30 million tourists a year are using the services of a tour operator engaged with this model of pre- venting child sex tourism.