ASTA renews efforts to combat sex tourism

The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) has renewed its commitment to lead the travel industry in an ongoing battle against human trafficking and child sex tourism, formally joining the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) “Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking”campaign. In joining the campaign, ASTA pledges to work with partners across the transportation and travel industries; educate employees and members on how to recognize and report signs of human trafficking and sex tourism; raise awareness among the travelling public on human trafficking issues by utilizing common messaging in targeted outreach campaigns; and measure the collective impact on human trafficking by tracking and sharing key data points. “Human trafficking, including child sex tourism, is one of the greatest atrocities of the 21st century. We are in a unique position to help put an end to the victimization of children, and ASTA, as the representative of the retail travel industry, is the group to lead the charge,”said ASTA president Zane Kerby. “Nothing would give greater satisfaction to my travel industry colleagues than seeing this scourge eradicated.”(http://www.asta.org)