Bangkok, Thailand, November 5 – 6, 2007 — “We do not do business at the cost of the weakest!” said Mrs Fausta Borsani, Head of Corporate Responsibility for Kuoni Group was recently in Thailand to be a special guest speaker at the Greater Mekong Sub-regional Seminar on Protecting Children from Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation in Tourism.

Speaking to an audience composed of delegates from the six governments: Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam in addition to representatives from local and international NGOs, UN agencies and the private sector, Mrs Borsani received significant applause from the audience. Kuoni Group, one of the world’s largest tour operators, was one of the representatives of the tourism private sector at the event.

Mrs Borsani works to promote corporate responsibility, sustainable tourism, and to encourage cooperation between government, NGOs, and the private sector. When asked why Kuoni Group is involved on this issue, she replied that, “As a member of the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism, Kuoni is committed to take action to inform and train its stakeholders in order to prevent this crime. It is a part of our corporate responsibility.”

Working with ECPAT International and Kuoni’s subsidiary company, Asian Trails, training workshops have been conducted in Pattaya, Samui, Phuket and Bangkok within Thailand. Similar workshops have been conducted in Kenya and Dominican Republic to sensitize the hotels that work with Kuoni Group. Mrs Borsani says of the trainings, “In these workshops, we discuss the measures the hotel has to take in order to prevent child abuse in its premises. We also state clearly that we will break any contract with a hotel if we have evidence to show that they tolerate child sex tourism.” Clearly committed, Kuoni Group is in the forefront among tourism companies in fighting child sex tourism.

Source: ECPAT Kuoni Group release dated November 8, 2007

ECPAT
Web site: www.ecpat.net

Contact information:
ECPAT - International Secretariat
328 Phaya Thai Road, Bangkok 10400
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Mr Ratthee Jarasnetiroj
Manager Kuoni Department
Asian Trails Ltd.
11th Floor, SG Tower,
161/1 Soi Mahadlek Luang 3,
Rajdamri Road, Lumpini, Pathumwan,
Bangkok 10330 Thailand
Tel: +66 (0) 2626 2000 ext. 2102
Fax: +66 (0) 2651 8111
E-mail: ratthee@asiantrails.org
Web site: http://www.asiantrails.net, http://www.asiantrails.info