How Contactless Technology can Prevent Human Trafficking

The COVID-19 pandemic forced hotels to change their operations. When the pandemic began, many hoteliers worried that switching to using technology systems that require less face-to-face contact could result in guests missing out on what makes hospitality special—the personal touch. But as we move into the third year of the pandemic, hotels have found that contactless technology is not reducing the guest experience. In fact, technology is allowing more touchpoints with guests while streamlining task management for employees.

Even before the pandemic, new technology trends like keyless entry and self-check-in were already becoming popular in the hospitality industry. The pandemic has accelerated the popularity of contactless technology, and many hotels are discovering that implementing digitalization is changing hospitality for the better.

Hotel managers can use new technology tools to add reminders for staff to remember to watch for human trafficking or add a list of human trafficking indicators that staff can access through their devices. In addition, managers can easily assign times for employees to receive online human trafficking awareness training, especially if the link to the training is inserted directly into each employee’s tasks.

Security departments are vital for preventing human trafficking, especially when guests are having less face-to-face contact with other employees—security departments are the eyes in the sky.

Security departments can leverage the use of new technology to help them identify human trafficking. A benefit of using a hospitality software platform is that security departments can monitor guestroom door activity. Platforms can report how often a door opens, and they even show if it was opened by keyless entry from the outside or if the door is opened from the inside. When security staff see that a door is opened an uncommon number of times—that can be a warning sign for security.

Technology can also help security departments control who has access to elevators. This is important for regulating the number of people who are not guests at the hotel from accessing rooms by requiring visitors to have either a guest or a hotel employee allow them access to the elevators from the lobby.

Guest messaging can also be a powerful tool for helping human trafficking victims. If a victim is in control of a smartphone and is able to communicate with hotel staff, he or she can text staff to ask for help without drawing attention from his or her abusers. On the flip side, if a staff member is concerned about a particular guest, he or she can text to make sure everything is OK and invite the guest to reach out if in need of help or assistance. This type of human trafficking intervention can be safer for both the victim and the staff member as long as it is framed as a customer service check that is done for all guests.

These new technology systems are the wave of the future for the hospitality industry. At first glance it may seem that less human contact in hotels might make guests feel isolated or make spotting human trafficking more difficult, but if hotels are intentional about how they go digital, there are ways hoteliers can use technology to increase touchpoints with guests, foster better employee communication and keep hotels safe from both COVID-19 and traffickers.