How Contactless Technology Can Prevent Human Trafficking

With the COVID-19 pandemic pushing more hotels to embrace the contactless experience, combined with the popularity of how efficient these new systems are for both guests and employees, the digitizing of hotels is a trend that is here to stay well after the pandemic ends. But many hoteliers are concerned that their staff will have fewer opportunities to spot or prevent situations involving human trafficking. With the accelerated shift toward contactless technologies, the opportunities to prevent human trafficking are also shifting.

New technology trends like keyless entry and self-check-in were already becoming popular in the hospitality industry before the pandemic, and many hotels are discovering that implementing digitalization is changing hospitality for the better.

“There has always been a fear that automation would replace the human touch, so this was seen as a threat to staff,” said Aileen Jimenez, associate product manager for Alice, which provides a global operations platform specifically for the hospitality industry. “But what we are finding is that hotels are seeing a lot of positives coming from new technology.”

One positive is guest messaging. Before the guest even arrives at the hotel, they can receive a text message welcoming them and asking if there is anything the hotel staff can do to make the guest’s stay better. Guests can text back a wide range of requests, from requesting more towels to asking staff to help schedule a tennis match. Once the guest responds to an automated text message, a staff member can respond. This is helping hotels not only continue to meet guest needs during the pandemic, but hoteliers are also understanding their guests’ needs better than ever because they are able to collect data showing trends with their guests.

Hotels using Alice’s platform are seeing a shift with how guests are connecting with staff. “Now, because of COVID, guests are appreciating more privacy,” Jimenez said. “They really like the convenience of self-check-in and keyless entry, and there is increased engagement with texting.”

Hospitality software platforms are also helping with back of house, decreasing the number of times employees must meet in person with their managers or other employees, creating a streamlined operations

process that delivers efficiency and allows for social distancing as work tasks are assigned and completed through a digital platform instead of using paper checklists.

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. Don Cohen, director of security at a large hotel, recommends security departments continuously train for ways to help watch for and prevent human trafficking.

According to Cohen, 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.

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.