Airline Ambassadors Human Trafficking Training Team Educates Sabre Holdings Employees

Oct. 1, 2012 - PRLog -- SOUTHLAKE, Texas Sept. 27, 2012 -2012 – Airline Ambassadors International Human Trafficking Training team trained  nearly 400 employees of Sabre Holdings directly before a brief ceremony where Sabre Holdings Chairman and CEO, Sam Gilliland , signed the Code of Conduct for the protection of children from sexual exploitation in travel and tourism. Sabre is the first global travel technology company to sign The Code.

“This is a giant step in becoming an openly active and responsible corporation in regards to Human Trafficking awareness”, said Nancy Rivard, founder of Airline Ambassadors International. “We are honored to be the first trainers who will be sharing our program focusing on airlines and travel with Sabre employees”.

The code.org is organized by ECPAT which works to build collaboration among civil society and the broader child rights community to form a global social movement for protection of children from sexual exploitation. Its membership reflects the richness and diversity of experience, knowledge and perspectives that arise from working in widely different contexts.

Suppliers of tourism services adopting The Code commit themselves to implement the following six criteria:
•   To establish an ethical policy regarding commercial sexual exploitation of children
•   To train the personnel in the country of origin and travel destinations
•   To introduce a class in contracts with suppliers, stating a common repudiation of commercial sexual exploitation of children
•   To provide information to travelers by means of catalogues brochures, in-flight films, ticket-slips, home pages, etc.
•   To provide information to local ‘key persons’ at the destinations
•   To report annually

Sabre also announced its “Passport to Freedom”  initiative that will focus on three components: to educate the travel industry, advocate for legislative change, and provide opportunities for travel industry leaders to collaborate to fight human trafficking. The program will also include a long-term scholarship and employment program providing job training to human trafficking survivors for careers in the travel and tourism industry.  

Sabre is working  with the U.S. State Department and organizations like ECPAT and the Polaris Project., among others to engage the travel industry on this important issue.
“We appreciate that the Airline Ambassadors could be part of this very important event and initiative for Sabre,” said Gilliland. “Education is a key component in the efforts to combat human trafficking so we appreciate the work of Airline Ambassadors to train Sabre’s employees so we can be part of the front lines in identifying and hopefully helping victims of this horrible crime.”

About Airline Ambassadors:
Airline Ambassadors International (AAI) is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization founded by airline employees, affiliated with the United Nations and recognized by the U.S. Congress. Members provide international relief and development to under-privileged communities worldwide. As the only non-governmental organization of the airline industry, AAI has hand delivered more than $60 million worth of humanitraian aid and provided escorts and medical care to children in 51 countries www.airlineamb.org.  To complement their efforts AAI is also building Safe houses for trafficked victims at seven locations in Haiti.

About Sabre Holdings:
About Sabre Holdings: a global travel technology company, serving the world’s largest industry – travel and tourism. We provide software to travel agencies, corporations, travelers, airlines, hotels, car, rail, cruise and tour operator companies through our four businesses: Sabre Airline Solutions, Sabre Hospitality Solutions, Sabre Travel Network and Travelocity (including lastminute.com and Zuji). Sabre has approximately 10,000 employees in 60 countries around the world. It has large development and customer care centers in the United States, Argentina, India, Philippines, Poland and Uruguay. Sabre has won numerous awards for being a top employer and corporate citizen in Argentina, Brazil, India, Mexico, Peru, Poland, and the United States. Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, Sabre is privately owned by Texas Pacific Group (TPG) and Silver Lake Partners. For more information please visit: www.sabre.com