When Competitors Collaborate: Hilton, Hyatt and IHG Unite to Strengthen Human Trafficking Prevention

Hospitality may thrive on friendly competition, but Hilton, Hyatt and IHG Hotels & Resorts are proving that the biggest challenges demand something else entirely: collaboration.

The three companies have come together with the AHLA Foundation to launch a modernized human trafficking prevention training, offering it to the entire hospitality industry at no cost throughout 2026. It’s a powerful show of unity and a reminder that safeguarding people is a collective responsibility.

The timing could not be better, as 2026 is set to be a blockbuster year for travel in the U.S., with the FIFA World Cup 2026, the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence, and the 100th anniversary of Route 66 expected to drive significant travel demand. As hotels prepare to welcome these large-scale global events and increased guest flows, the industry needs every team member alert, ready, capable and confident to act.

A Shared Training, Built for the Industry

The updated training curriculum was developed in partnership with Protect All Children from Trafficking (PACT) and Unboxed Training & Technology. Survivor-informed and grounded in real-world hotel scenarios, the training is designed to help teams recognize, respond to, and report potential trafficking situations.

The program uses live-action video storytelling and will be available in both English and Spanish on PACT’s website. Independent hotel owners, operators, and brands across the industry can access the training at no cost throughout 2026.

PACT will serve as the training administrator, providing subject-matter expertise informed by survivors’ lived experience. Unboxed Training & Technology supported the learning design, ensuring the program is scalable, multilingual, and aligned to shared industry standards. Participants will receive technical support, reminders to encourage completion, and a certificate upon successful completion.

Putting Competition Aside for Impact

For the leaders involved, the collaboration was less about alignment on paper and more about shared accountability in practice.

“This collaboration shows that together, we can achieve more than any of us could alone,” said Katherine Lugar, EVP of Corporate Affairs at Hilton and President of the Hilton Global Foundation. “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.”

At Hyatt, the emphasis was on listening first. CFO and NRFT Advisory Council Chair Joan Bottarini pointed to insights from survivors and hotel teams as critical inputs in shaping the updated training.

“By listening to survivors and learning from hotel teams on the ground, we gained invaluable insights into where guidance could be strengthened,” Bottarini said. “That understanding helped us design an updated training to better support hotel teams in real-world situations.”

For IHG, the collaboration was about momentum and follow-through. SVP of Global Human Resources Rani Hammond described the effort as a move from intent to execution.

“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.

Part of a Broader Industry Effort

The initiative aligns with the AHLA Foundation’s No Room for Trafficking initiative, which brings hotel companies together to elevate awareness, educate teams, and support survivors. Hilton, Hyatt and IHG all serve on the initiative’s Advisory Council, helping shape the industry’s unified approach.

The training will be featured alongside the industry’s existing program launched by Marriott International, which has been completed more than 2.6 million times by hospitality employees since 2020, underscoring both the scale of the challenge and the reach of coordinated action.

“As an industry, we’ll continue to play a leading role in human trafficking prevention,” said Kevin Carey, President and CEO of the AHLA Foundation. “Through the No Room for Trafficking initiative, our mission is to convene the industry to elevate awareness, educate hotel teams, and support survivors on their path forward.”

Carey described the Hilton, Hyatt and IHG collaboration as the kind of industry-wide cooperation needed to address complex societal issues, particularly as travel volumes and global events accelerate.

A Resource for the Year Ahead

The training launch follows a series of advocacy and awareness efforts throughout January in recognition of Human Trafficking Prevention Month. As the hospitality industry prepares for a year of heightened travel and global attention, this free, survivor-informed training offers hotel teams a tangible way to prepare.

The training and additional information are available at courses.wearepact.org/preventing-human-trafficking.