WASHINGTON, D.C. — Hilton, Hyatt and IHG Hotels & Resorts released a joint human trafficking prevention training. The course is free to independent hotel owners, operators and brands. AHLA Foundation issued the announcement.
The release carries a dateline of 28 January 2026. The copy of the same release on Green Lodging News carries a byline date of 16 September 2026.
Three competitors on one course
The release calls this the first joint training initiative by the three hospitality companies. All three sit on AHLA Foundation’s No Room for Trafficking (NRFT) advisory council.
The council guides the hotel industry’s anti-trafficking work and its support for survivors. The new course sits alongside the industry training that Marriott International launched, which the release says industry employees have completed more than 2.6 million times since 2020.
Free, 30 minutes, a certificate
The course runs 30 minutes. It is free. Participants receive a certificate on completion, scheduled reminders and technical support during the training.
AHLA Foundation’s NRFT page describes the course as currently available in English with Spanish subtitles. PACT’s course page carries the same wording.
The course teaches participants to recognise warning signs in hotel settings and to respond through internal reporting procedures. It covers how staff can support a safe environment for guests and colleagues.
Who built it
The training is survivor-informed and uses live-action video storytelling. The three companies developed it with Protect All Children from Trafficking (PACT) and Unboxed Training & Technology.
PACT administers the training and supplied subject-matter expertise grounded in survivors’ lived experience. Unboxed served as the strategic learning design partner.
What the three companies said
Katherine Lugar, executive vice president of corporate affairs at Hilton and president of the Hilton Global Foundation, said the collaboration shows what the companies achieve together. “Today, we’re putting competition aside and partnering across the industry to ensure every hospitality professional has access to the most up to date information and tools they need to recognize, respond and report instances of trafficking,” Lugar said.
Joan Bottarini, chief financial officer at Hyatt and chair of AHLA Foundation’s NRFT advisory council, said the companies listened to survivors and learned from hotel teams. “That understanding helped us shape and design an updated training to better support and equip hotel teams in real-world situations,” Bottarini said.
Rani Hammond, senior vice president of global human resources at IHG Hotels & Resorts, said the companies shared a commitment to turn an idea into action. “By uniting around a common purpose, we’ve created a new, survivor-informed resource that can empower hotel teams to make a real difference in preventing human trafficking,” Hammond said.
AHLA Foundation and No Room for Trafficking
Kevin Carey, president and chief executive of AHLA Foundation, said the industry will keep a leading role in prevention. “Through the AHLA Foundation’s NRFT initiative, our mission is to convene the industry to elevate awareness of the crisis of human trafficking, educate the industry, and support survivors on their path forward,” Carey said.
AHLA Foundation’s NRFT page reports 2.6 million specialised anti-trafficking trainings completed by industry employees since 2020 and more than 4 million dollars contributed to the industry’s Survivor Fund.
The language line
The release says the training will be available in English and Spanish. AHLA Foundation and PACT describe it on their own pages as available in English with Spanish subtitles.
Further courses under the same initiative
AHLA Foundation lists further no-cost courses under the same initiative. Its NRFT page states that Your Role in Preventing Human Trafficking, a 30-minute virtual or in-person programme, has been completed by more than 2.2 million industry employees since 2020 and is available in 34 languages. The Room Next Door is a virtual course that features insights from a survivor, from hospitality safety and security professionals and from outside experts.
Where to take the training
Industry members can access the course at courses.wearepact.org/preventing-human-trafficking.