How do human traffickers use hotels?

Hotels and motels are a common venue for sex trafficking, due to ease of access for buyers, ability to pay in cash and maintain secrecy through finances, and lack of facility maintenance or upkeep expenses. Sex trafficking may occur with victims are compelled to provide commercial sex through force, fraud, or coercion.



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Victims may exhibit signs of abuse, such as bruises, cuts, burns, scars, poor personal hygiene, or malnourishment. Victims usually will not engage in conversation with lodging employees. Victims commonly deny that they are victims, or need assistance.

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Hotels and motels are critical sites for both sex and labor trafficking business operations. Many have stepped up to ensure front-line staff are well trained in identifying potential signs of sex trafficking, but potential labor trafficking occupying the rooms and within the hotel's supply chains may go unchecked.

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Several major hotel chains have been implicated in lawsuits related to human trafficking. These include: Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, as the largest hotel chain in the U.S., Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, which also operates Super 8, Days Inn, and La Quinta, has been named in several lawsuits.

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Moreover, data from the National Human Trafficking Hotline shows that at least 7.7 percent of human trafficking cases reported in 2016 were based in hotels or motels, the most common location for the abuse to occur.

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