Child Protection in Travel and Tourism

Across airports, hotels, private accommodations, transport services, booking platforms and within local communities, children are being exposed to the risk of sexual exploitation—often amplified by the misuse of technology. Travel contexts, characterised by mobility, a perceived sense of anonymity, imbalances of economic power, and direct interactions in settings with limited regulatory and social oversight, can create environments that heighten the risk of sexual exploitation of children.  

Certain tourism experiences like volunteer tourism (voluntourism) and orphanage tourism can further these risks due to oversights in regulation and safeguarding measures. 

Our Approach  

Sustainable tourism and child protection go hand in hand. Our work focuses on creating protective environments where children and young people are free from sexual exploitation, empowered to influence decisions that affect them, and supported to access education and job opportunities. 

We work across the travel and tourism ecosystem—businesses, governments, educators, communities, children and young people—to embed child protection into how tourism operates. 

What We’re Doing

1. Working with Travel and Tourism Businesses 

We support companies across the travel and tourism industry to prevent the sexual exploitation of children through The Code, a leading child protection initiative for the sector. The Code equips member companies with practical tools to make child protection part of their business DNA. This includes: 

• Risk assessment tools 
• Staff training programmes 
• Strategies to engage travellers in child-safe practices 

From global hotel chains and local tour operators to booking platforms and transport companies, The Code’s membership of over 400 companies demonstrates that protecting children strengthens customer trust and supports ethical business growth. 

Click here to become a member of The Code. 

2. Strengthening Government-Led Systems 

We help governments to establish protective environment models in destinations, where business, authorities and civil society organisations work together, children and youth are empowered and offered opportunities. 

We strive to strengthen international cooperation to protect children everywhere and stop impunity for offenders, including through advocating for enforcement of legislation that needs to enable cross-border responses. 

Governments: Sustainable transformation in tourism demands clear standards and regulations to prevent and respond to child sexual exploitation. Businesses can go further when due diligence laws, incentives, and policies create a level playing field for tourism, travel, transport and booking platforms. 

For Travellers and Tourists: Our actions impact the lives of children, no matter where we travel. Be a responsible and ethical traveller. 

3. Setting Clear Standards for Safe Tourism 

Every year, thousands of well-meaning travellers volunteer in orphanages, schools, and community projects, often unaware that their involvement can harm the very children they want to help. Our advocacy focuses on ensuring that child protection is everyone’s responsibility: from the companies providing tourism services to the travellers using them. 

We call for all forms of professional volunteering and volunteer tourism to adhere to the highest child protection standards—including background checks, mandatory training, supervision, and accountability measures. We also actively engage travellers through awareness campaigns and guidance materials, encouraging them to make responsible choices that keep children safe. 

Travellers: start your journey to being a responsible traveller here. 

Travel and tour operators: Learn how to design child-safe volunteering experiences here.  

4. Building Child Protection into Tourism Education 

We partner with educational institutions to integrate child protection into tourism curricula, providing educators with clear guidance on the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that future tourism professionals need to protect children effectively. 

By reaching students before they enter the workforce, we help ensure that the next generation of hotel managers, tour operators, and tourism officials carry child protection competencies from the start of their careers. 

Tourism educators: Use ECPAT’s Core Competencies Framework as your guide to bring child protection into your tourism education programmes. 

5. Centring Children’s Voices in Sustainable Tourism 

We bring children’s perspectives directly into tourism planning and sustainability efforts. Through participatory approaches, including videos and youth engagement initiatives, we work with children and young people to strengthen tourism strategies that prevent sexual exploitation and promote child-safe destinations. 

Make tourism safer for children. Learn from their voices and put their ideas into practice: