Award winning Code of Conduct members Carlson, Kuoni and Accor

The international Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct organization is honored to extend congratulations to three of its leading members – Carlson, Kuoni and Accor – for winning sustainability awa

The international Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct organization is honored to extend congratulations to three of its leading members – Carlson, Kuoni and Accor – for winning sustainability awards for their social responsibility initiatives including child protection and the implementation of the Code.

CARLSON AND THECODE.ORG

Winners of the Ethical Corporation 2010 Award in the โ€œBest Collaborationโ€ category

Carlson was the first major American company to join the Child-Protection Code of Conduct (www.thecode.org ) in April 2004. The company also created a training kit in a โ€œmeeting in a boxโ€ format containing a Managersโ€™ Guide, as well as visual presentation of seven real-life scenarios that hotel personnel can encounter for assessing and recognizing potential situations of sexual exploitation of children.

UNICEF and UNWTO applauded the collaboration between the company and the Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct, as one of the best examples of corporate citizenship partnerships for the protection of children from sexual exploitation. The judges commented that the company has shown exemplary thought leadership in a sector that often lacks serious strategic action on corporate responsibility. In seriously addressing an important area that is often perceived as a taboo in the travel sector, this company has performed great work on an issue many firms in the industry both overlook and ignore.

KUONI TRAVEL MANAGEMENT INDIA

Winner of the Bird Express Travel World Awards in the โ€œCorporate Responsibility” category

The Bird Express TravelWorld Awards recognize that successful businesses are
not always based on volumes, rather on innovation. The awards are regarded as the travel and hospitality industry’s most coveted and prestigious B2B travel awards. This year, amongst 237 entries, Kuoni Destination Management India was declared the winner in the Corporate Responsibility category for its Child Protection Initiative in India.

The India initiative included workshops to sensitize hotel partners and enhance awareness amongst the various stakeholder of the tourism industry in Goa, Cochin, and Kerala. Kuoni continues with its support to child protection programs in India throughout 2010. The award was presented by Kumari Selja, union minister of tourism, at a function held in Maurya Hotel, noting: โ€œThis award underlines a key facet of our ‘reliability’ core value: Kuoni always acts in accordance with high moral and ethical standards. It is a proud moment for all of us to be recognized as a part of a company that is also committed to being a good corporate citizen,” said Dipak Deva, chief executive officer, Kuoni Destination Management India & South Asia.

ACCOR

Winner of the WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow 2010 Award in the โ€œGlobal Tourism Business Awardโ€ category

This prestigious, highly-competitive award acknowledges Accor’s accomplishments in demonstrating effective, environmentally-sensitive operations and management, educating guests and employees about sustainable tourism practices, supporting cultural and natural heritage preservation, and collaborating with other private and public stakeholders to promote best practices in sustainable tourism.

After one round of preliminary judging, 15 Accor hotels of different
brands in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Morocco, and the Netherlands were assessed by three tourist industry experts. The judges evaluated the depth of Accor’s commitment both in terms of social and environmental sustainability initiatives, tested the level of awareness among employees, and verified that action plans are widely shared across the group and adapted to local situations.

“Many global companies focus more on their environmental ambitions when it comes to sustainability, but Accor has surpassed this with a number of environmental and social sustainability initiatives,” said Costas Christ, who chaired the panel of judges for the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards. “Its Earth Guest program plays a truly global role in minimizing the environmental impact of Accor’s operations. It also helps to share best environmental practices through effective tracking, with data that can be accessed by any hotel at any time. The judges were also very impressed with Accor’s strong social outreach, including its willingness to address fundamental global health issues like HIV/AIDS prevention and to lead the fight against illegal exploitation of children for sex in certain tourist destinations.”

Since 2002, Accor has been involved in a large number of initiatives to eliminate sexual exploitation of children. Accor has signed the “Child Protection Code” created by the UNWTO and the ECPAT NGO in 34 countries, which are leading active policies against this affliction. In 2009, 13,000 employees were trained in these countries to prevent this risk, and ECPAT campaigns were displayed in the hotels to raise awareness among guests.

Accor is one of the world’s leading hospitality groups and the leader in Europe, as well as the global leader in services to corporate clients and public institutions. It operates in nearly 100 countries with 150,000 employees, offering its clients over 40 years of expertise in two core businesses. First, Accor Hotels include a large number of brands: Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, Adagio, Ibis, all seasons, Etap Hotel, Formule 1, hotelF1, and Motel, representing 4,000 hotels and nearly 500,000 rooms in 90 countries, as well as strategically-related activities, Accor Thalassa, Lenรดtre, and CWL. Its second branch of activities, Accor Services, provides benefits to 32 million people in 40 countries – employee and constituent benefits, rewards and incentives, and expenses management.

The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism is an industry-driven responsible tourism initiative, in collaboration with ECPAT, co-funded by UNICEF and supported by the UNWTO.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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