New York City, NY -- (SBWIRE) --06/09/2011 -- The Millennium Hotel-St. Louis will soon become the latest hotel property to take a strong stand against the commercial sexual exploitation of children by signing the tourism Code of Conduct (The Code), ECPAT-USA announced today. The Code specifically focuses on the protection of children from sexual exploitation in the travel and tourism industries.

The Millennium Hotel St. Louis will hold a press conference on July 12 at which it will sign the Code of Conduct, making a public commitment to develop policies and procedures to protect children from sexual exploitation on its premises. The press conference will take place at 11:45AM local time at the hotel.

The Code has been signed by almost 1,000 travel industry members worldwide, though few companies in the United States have done so. The St. Louis branch of the Millennium Hotel chain is the fifth U.S. company to agree to work with ECPAT-USA, a nonprofit organization that advocates for every child’s right to grow up free from sexual exploitation. This year, Delta Air Lines became the first U.S. air carrier to sign the Code and Hilton Worldwide also signed the Code.

As a subscriber to The Code, The Millennium Hotel-St. Louis will implement policies that condemn child trafficking and exploitation and provide training to help their employees identify and report illicit activities. The hotel will also look for ways to raise awareness about ECPAT and the Code among customers and other stakeholders.

The purpose of The Code is to prevent and mitigate child sex trafficking, as well as encourage a responsible, child-wise tourism industry, according to Carol Smolenski, Executive Director of ECPAT-USA.

“It is fantastic that another U.S. hotel property has decided to act responsibly. We are thrilled to have the partnership of The Millennium Hotel St. Louis. We hope the Millennium properties across the country are willing to take the same steps in the future. Children in every city should have the same protections,” said Smolenski.

The other U.S. organizations that have signed The Code include Carlson Companies, which owns the Radisson Hotels, and Global Exchange’s Reality Tours.

About ECPAT-USA
ECPAT-USA, the U.S. arm of ECPAT International, is focused on protecting children trafficked into the U.S., American children trafficked for sexual exploitation, and foreign children exploited by American tourists traveling abroad. ECPAT International is a global network of organizations working together for the elimination of child trafficking, child prostitution and child pornography. The network is comprised of 81 groups in 74 countries around the world. All ECPAT groups are independent grassroots organizations, working to combat child exploitation at the local level. For more information, visit http://www.ecpatusa.org or connect on Facebook at http://apps.facebook.com/causes/causes/1413.