Kansas City, MO -- (SBWire) -- 04/10/2015 --ECPAT-USA will be joining the Kansas City Chapter of Meeting Professionals International (KCMPI) to train hotel industry executives and industry associates about the role of hospitality professionals in combating human trafficking. Attendees will gain insight into important resources available for travel buyers and suppliers to fight the trafficking in the United States, which is estimated to exploit upwards of 100,000 children per year.

Attendees will be encouraged to share what they have learned with their companies including information about The Code, a set of six guidelines travel companies implement to put in place policies and programs to comprehensively and effectively address this issue. Signing The Code is not only crucial in fighting human trafficking, but it can be an important step in positive branding, preventing signatories from legal, reputational, and operational risk by developing processes for identifying and addressing this issue.

The presentation will also provide attendees with the signs of child sex trafficking in the travel industry, how to identify suspicious activities, and what steps to take when there is a suspicion of human trafficking on the premises, since it is so common for traffickers and pimps to use hotel properties to run their operations. The presentation will take place Wednesday April 15th during KCMPI's 2015 Professional Education Conference at the University of Kansas - Edwards Campus.

About ECPAT-USA
ECPAT-USA is the leading policy organization in the United States seeking to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children through awareness, advocacy, policy, and legislation. ECPAT-USA is a member of the ECPAT International network, with offices in 78 countries. For more information visit www.ecpatusa.org. Contact 718-935-9192 or info@ecpatusa.org.

About Meeting Professionals International
Kansas City Chapter: The Kansas City Chapter of Meeting Professionals is the leading regional organization committed to shaping and defining the meeting and event industry. KCMPI's goal is to build a rich, global meeting industry community with its members successfully creating relationships, keeping ahead of industry trends in the marketplace, and sharing ideas and knowledge. Contact 816-668-9424 or kcmpi@kcmpi.org.