Bethesda, Maryland – At the AHLA Foundation’s third annual No Room for Trafficking (NRFT) Summit, Marriott International announced the pilot launch of HotelHelp, a program designed to provide short-term emergency stays for survivors of human trafficking. Initially being piloted in Atlanta, Detroit, Phoenix, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., HotelHelp is set to expand to 25 cities across North America by January 2025, with plans for global expansion.
Supporting Survivors with Emergency Shelter HotelHelp collaborates with Marriott’s portfolio of hotels and established care providers to donate short-term stays for trafficking survivors. The initiative addresses the critical shortage of shelter beds that can increase the risk of survivors being re-trafficked. Anthony Capuano, President and CEO of Marriott International, emphasized the company’s commitment to providing safe, short-term accommodations as part of its ongoing anti-trafficking and survivor empowerment efforts.
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Proven Model for Success Inspired by the successful HospitalityHelps platform, which provided hotel stays for Ukrainian refugees, HotelHelp utilizes a similar system to facilitate room donations. During the early months of the Ukraine conflict, HospitalityHelps booked over 100,000 room nights in 630 hotels, including over 8,700 nights in 87 Marriott hotels across Europe.
How HotelHelp Works Participating care and service providers can use the HotelHelp platform to reserve up to five room nights per person, ensuring confidentiality for survivors. The program fosters collaboration between care providers and hotels to navigate each stay’s specifics.
Ongoing Commitment to Human Rights Marriott’s announcement comes a year after expanding its Future in Training (FiT) Hospitality Survivor Employability Curriculum in partnership with the University of Maryland SAFE Center. Since July 2023, over 160 survivors have been trained across 11 U.S. cities. Marriott’s broader human rights efforts include training all on-property associates in human trafficking awareness by 2025. Since 2016, over 1.3 million associates have been trained, with the training modules also used widely across the industry.
To learn more about Marriott International’s efforts to combat human trafficking, visit Marriott International Serve360.
About Marriott International Marriott International, Inc. (Nasdaq: MAR), based in Bethesda, Maryland, operates nearly 8,900 properties across more than 30 brands in 141 countries. The company offers Marriott Bonvoy®, its award-winning travel program. For more information, visit Marriott and follow on Facebook, X, and Instagram @MarriottIntl.
Source: Marriott International Launches HotelHelp Pilot for Emergency Stays for Human Trafficking Survivors
