A total of nine large, medium and small tourism companies as well as five associations and civil society organizations came together to jointly develop an online training course on human rights due diligence in the tourism value chain. The e-learning is available for free for direct partners and suppliers of all tourism players and does not only raise awareness on human rights but also strengthens the knowledge of users.
The following activities have been implemented:
The developed training
After successfully completing each module, learners receive a so-called “Open Badge”, which contains detailed information about the knowledge and skills achieved. In addition, after successfully completing all four basic modules and the in-depth module, a digital certificate is issued, which is recognized by all participating project companies.
According to the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), millions of people worldwide live in hardship because minimum social standards such as the prohibition of forced and child labor or environmental protection aspects are disregarded. The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) are the authoritative global framework for preventing and addressing negative impacts of business on human rights and are a fundamental tool for addressing these major collective challenges.
Tourism is a key factor in many developing and emerging countries and can create jobs and strengthen local economic cycles. It can also contribute to the preservation of nature and culture and reduce inequalities. Tourism touches on many aspects of human rights, e.g. protection against discrimination or the right to be involved in decision-making processes.
As a service industry, tourism must assume responsibility for good working conditions and fair living wages as part of its human rights due diligence. Furthermore, as part of a social transformation of the industry, concepts must be developed to ensure basic protection for workers in tourism, even in times of crisis.
There are many potentially vulnerable groups working in the tourism industry whose human rights require special protection (e.g., women, migrant workers or indigenous peoples). For example, the percentage of female workers in tourism is 54% (on average almost twice as high as in other sectors). Including the informal sector in countries of the global south, up to 75% of the workers are female – with a rising trend. In this respect, improved working conditions and living wages for women in particular must be prioritized as part of tourism companies’ human rights due diligence.
The aim of the tourism companies DERTOUR Group, TUI Group, TUI Cruises, Booking.com, Gebeco, Chamäleon, Studiosus Reisen, Hauser Exkursionen and FairAway Travel involved in the project was to ensure broad acceptance and use of these training courses. For this reason, the training courses developed was tested in advance for practical applicability and further developed together with the partners in the destinations.
The private sector was supported by the Association for Sustainable Tourism forum anders reisen, the German Travel Association (DRV) and ECPAT Germany, the working group for the protection of children from sexual exploitation.
The training is available to the industry free of charge on atingi.org, the digital learning platform of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and will enable local partners of travel companies to gain an introduction to the topic of human rights due diligence.
The project was led by Futouris and the Roundtable Human Rights in Tourism, a multi-stakeholder initiative that promotes the implementation of human rights due diligence by tourism companies.
This joint project was being implemented under the umbrella of the Sector Dialogue on Tourism for Sustainable Development. Half of the initiative was financed by the project partners’ own funds and the other half by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Together with our members, we at Futouris develop innovative projects and implement them in practice. Our projects are as diverse as our members. Our common goal: to preserve travel destinations and make the industry fit for the future.