A/HRC/22/54 74. With regard to awareness-raising, tour operators, travel agencies, airlines and other travel and tourism companies have developed information materials to inform their customers that CST is a problem which not only does exist in multiple tourist destinations, but is also illegal and has dire consequences for children. Information materials include travel brochures, ticket-holders, luggage tags, video clips and public service announcements. Recognizing the importance of having informed and skilled human resources to implement prevention and protection initiatives, both travel/tourism companies and law enforcement agencies have also developed specific training programmes on the issue of CST. 75. Despite all the positive and promising actions undertaken, no comprehensive initiative which is sufficiently multidimensional and takes into account all risk factors has yet been developed that is working both at national and transnational level and most importantly aimed at being sustainable. 5. Corporate social responsibility 76. In addition to Governments, the private sector also has legal and moral responsibilities to ensure that child protection becomes fully incorporated into the tourism development agenda. The Global Code of Ethics for Tourism developed by the World Tourism Organization, although not legally binding, provides a comprehensive set of principles for ethical, sustainable and responsible tourism, including specific mention of combating the sexual exploitation of children in tourism, for Governments to adapt into a national regulatory framework for the tourism industry. 47 Bulgaria, for example, has developed a code of ethics for the prevention of trafficking and sexual exploitation of children in tourism.48 77. With the mainstreaming of responsible and sustainable tourism and corporate social responsibility, companies have realized the importance of their role in protecting children from CST.49 Organizations such as the International Hotel and Restaurant Association or the International Association of Travel and Tourism Professionals have made public declarations condemning sexual exploitation of children in tourism and promoting action by NGOs and travel companies to ensure that tourists are not involved in such exploitation. Additional public declarations have been made by the International Air Transport Association, the Federation of International Youth Travel Organizations and the Group of National Tour Operators’ Associations within the European Union. 50 78. Most significant, however, in the area of CSR has been the development of the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism, an industry-driven, multi-stakeholder initiative which seeks to increase protection of children from sexual exploitation in travel and tourism. All members of the tourism industry can join the Code and commit themselves to implementing six practical criteria: to establish an ethical policy regarding commercial sexual exploitation of children; to train the personnel in the country of origin and travel destinations; to introduce clauses in contracts with suppliers, stating a common repudiating of sexual exploitation of children; to provide information to travellers by means of awareness materials (catalogues, brochures, in-flight films, ticket-slips, home pages, etc); to provide information to local “key persons” in tourism destinations; and to report annually. The implementation is flexible, depending on the profile, scale of operation, type of company and applicable national legislation. 47 48 49 50 Available from http://ethics.unwto.org/en/content/full-text-global-code-ethics-tourism. Contribution of Bulgaria Contribution of The Code. Protection Project, International Child Sex Tourism. 17

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