Hamanasi Resort holds Industry Awareness Training

PREVENTION OF THE COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION

OF CHILDREN IN THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM SECTOR

On August 26th, 2009 Hamanasi held the Implementation of the Code of Conduct Training presented by Mrs. Maria Vega, representative of Belize Tourism Industry Association and NOPCAN. A total of 17 of Hamanasi front line staff were present for the training. Since 2004, BTIA, along with regional tourism counterparts, has agreed on a Regional Plan of Action to address the worldwide problem of commercial sexual exploitation of children. The commitment of the tourism industry is to “disseminate and apply the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism as approved by the World Tourism Organization, especially with regard to the protection of children and adolescents”. Hamanasi has been a member of the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children for 2 years. The training objective was to bring about awareness of the exploration of children in the hospitality and tourism industry. Hopefully, with more awareness comes more demand for action, on a worldwide basis, to stop these unacceptable acts.