Ebnt observatory on combacting the sexual children exploitation in tourism eng

NATIONAL OBSERVATORY ON IMPLEMENTATION OF LAW
269/98 AND OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY CODE OF
CONDUCT

CONTENT
Introduction

pag.

2

1. Scenarios of disintermediaton and integration

“

4

2. Analysis of European online travel agencies and active in EU countries
“
11
3. The phenomenon examined through sector associations surveys
16

“

4. Interviews and analysis of Interpol and fraud squads of police
departments (England and the Netherlands)
“
21
5. Update on implementation of EU 92/2011 Directive and comparison
with previous editions of Observatory L.269
“
25
ANNEX: A CONVERGENT ACTION
European Council “Strategy for the Rights of the Child 2012-2015”
ATTACHMENTS
A.1. Online Travel Agency database
A.2. Online Travel Agency survey
A.3. Tour Operator and travel agencies database
A.4. Tour Operator and travel agencies survey
A.5. Letter and draft of interview to Police forces
A.6. Email to the European Parliament

2

CONDUCT

Introduction
This Observatory is an update and at the same time an evolution of the
previous editions, which had defined some important points about this
issue at an Italian and European level:
• “spontaneous” awareness from the tourism industry regarding
sexual exploitation of children seems to be limited all around the
continent and in the various EU countries, this is verifiable through
the analysis of the commercial portals, of communication tools and
of the practically non existing reaction to an ad hoc survey;
• the few cases encountered may be referred to the action of non
profit organizations (Ecpat, Save the Children, ecc.) which
managed to break through in the sector associations and big
operators, managing to let them sign Code of Conduct, containing
the principles of commitment, but not necessarily managing to
verify the effectiveness of such commitment;
• from another point of view, the contrast to this phenomenon lies in
the hands of repressive tools, operating based on national norms,
sometimes severe; in other cases (especially Italy) apparently more
far seeing, but actually weaker from a practical point of view;
• only recently (end of 2011) the European Union emanated a
Directive (n.92) with the aim of promoting virtuous behaviours all
around the continent, and to homogenize the attitude of national
Institutions.
But at the same time the tourism market has seen some noticeable
structural improvements. One of these, the most relevant both in general
and considering the specific issue analyzed, seems to be the so called
disintermediation.
All the main initiatives on the issue of the “struggle against sexual
exploitation of children in the tourism sector” have always been
accompanies in every country by an awareness raising campaign of travel
agents and tour operators.
This category of workers has in fact for decades represented the main
filter - mediators between tourists and destinations, and in general, which
sometimes (but without any systematic demonstration) for what concerns
this specific social plague.

3

CONDUCT

Tourism trends nevertheless highlight that the role of agencies has
significantly been reduced in favour of internet, which is today the most
used channel for many functions (information, organization, etc.), and
with which such a struggle will inevitably have to deal with in the
following years.
The ease with which information and booking may be accessed, and
privately thanks to internet, may without doubt risk being an advantage to
those who seek sex tourism, bypassing any possible form of control and
human filter. And making obsolete those norms that provide for the
obligation to citation as the Italian law 269 of 1998, admirable and
innovative for other reasons.
For this reason, in the present edition of the Observatory, a particular
attention was dedicated to the technological evolution of the market, being
sure that this represents not only the operative context in which this
phenomenon developed, but also as a consequence the scenario in which
contrast actions must operate.

1. Scenarios of disintermediation and integration
The phenomenon of “disintermediation” in tourism is evident in the
growth of “direct sales” of tourism services to the final customer from all
actors involved in tourism. The traditional tourism supply chain, tour
operators and travel agencies, is always more fragmented, with mutual
invasions of positions and therefore roles regarding demand.
Disintermediation may be intended as a phenomenon which becomes
“multi-channeled”1: a tourism operator may in fact decide to reach the
final customer through the traditional channel of travel agencies, or
through direct sale, telephone or internet. The consumer, on the other
hand, has the opportunity to choose based on its own inclination or
specificity. The concept of disintermediation therefore does not express
itself simply through the elimination of mediators from the distribution
circuit, which would bring to a progressive loss of importance of travel
1
Roberto Gentile, Agenzie di viaggi e network, Hoepli Editore

4

CONDUCT

agencies, substituted by new formats. It is opportune to speak about a
multi-channeled approach, decomposition and recomposing of the
tourism supply chain, with new criteria that modify relations between
companies through online and offline sales, in which service suppliers,
tour operators, travel agencies both online and traditional, call centers, etc.
may find their place.
The new concept is “to reach customers everywhere”.
The last figures provided by Eurobarometer2 on tourism trends in 2012
underline the importance of the web in the organisation of travels on
behalf of European citizens. Internet has become, without a doubt, a
superior channel compared to others for travel information and
distribution.
A truly unstoppable phenomenon, thanks to the continuous progress of
technology and net access all over the world. It should be noted, for the
sake of completeness, that such a predominance of the internet does not
extend automatically also to the sale of tourism products, or parts of, that
instead remain anchored to “pre-technologic” means.
Modalities of travel planning
(EU citizens - year 2012)
Source: SL&A elaboration based on Eurobarometer data, 2013

In average, 53% of the (enlarged) European Union population uses
internet to plan their vacations, with a peak of 75% in the Netherlands,
and 80% in Norway (not a EU country, but European). In general, figures
demonstrate that those which use internet the most are northern
Europeans, and those which use it the least are residents of Eastern, less
developed countries. Bulgaria stops at 28%, while only 15% of the
Macedonian population books vacations on internet. General
technological advancement has an influence on this percentage, especially
in terms of connection potential and access to the net.

2
European Commission, Flash Eurobarometer 370, Attitudes of Europeans towards Tourism,
2013

5

CONDUCT

The second most used modality, even though way behind, is the
traditional travel agency. An average of 19% of European citizens use this
channel. Over a quarter of the population in countries such as Belgium,
Germany and Austria, trust themselves to travel agencies, the people of
Luxembourg being those which use them the most (36%).
In Italy, as in many countries of the old continent, the percentage is closer
to the European average, while in countries such as Denmark, Poland,
Hungary and Lithuania, only one citizen out of ten uses agencies. Reasons
in this case as well may be linked to the possibility of “access”, that is the
amount of travel agencies and their diffusion in every State. Anyhow, the
travel agency channel is characterized by professionalism, trust, and an
increased sense of security guaranteed while purchasing a vacation.
One European citizen out of ten organizes its vacation booking services
directly at the destination. There is no logic which allows to aggregate
States based on this, but it is possible to understand that countries such as
Malta, Cyprus, Ireland and Denmark prefer to organize before departure,
while at least three citizens out ten in countries such as Lithuania and
Macedonia book on the spot.
In any case, the way people choose to travel depends fro country to
country based on the physical mediation networks, and is somehow stable
in the medium period. What may be observed is an information “transfer”
from the direct channel (word of mouth, parents, friends) to the telematic
one (social network, reviews, storytelling, etc.).

6

CONDUCT

Modalities of
travel
planning
2012
(data in %)
EU countries
Belgium
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Denmark
Germany
Estonia
Ireland
Greece
Spain
France
Italy
Cyprus
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Hungary
Malta
Austria
Holland
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovenia
Slovakia
Finland
Sweden
United Kingdom

Eu27
Croatia
Macedonia
Iceland
Serbia
Turkey
Israel

Internet

Travel
agency

On the spot

Transport
company

62
28
41
68
53
33
73
40
56
50
50
60
43
30
49
34
57
54
75
40
45
30
35
36
66
67
70
53
21
15
62
17
22
55

28
11
16
9
26
15
16
11
25
13
18
17
12
10
36
10
29
32
18
10
22
13
24
16
14
14
22
19
10
22
7
26
10
25

21
12
14
4
10
8
4
13
11
13
9
4
16
29
18
5
4
12
11
9
15
15
13
12
11
14
10
11
5
30
11
19
8
12

8
3
3
3
3
8
3
5
6
8
4
2
20
5
19
6
6
4
1
6
7
2
2
6
15
7
10
6
8
5
5
6
15
7
7

CONDUCT
Norway

80

12

7

3

Source: Eurobarometer, 2013

Another modality for organizing vacations, with a lower percentage (6%)
is through transport companies. In Latvia and Luxembourg it is done by
one citizen out of ten, while it is practically insignificant in Holland,
where only 1% uses it. An important figure nevertheless, since this
typology of workers is in no way informed on this issue, as it has emerged
in previous editions of the Observatory.
The figures of Eurobarometer indicate an increase in the number of
travels, between January 2012 and January 2013, done bu EU citizens
towards extra EU destinations. The average is 26%. States where most of
the residents travel to far away countries (35% and above) are Germany,
Denmark and Englad (in addition to Norway and Serbia, non EU).
Even without assuming a direct relation between travel distance and sex
tourism with children, for the aims of this report and to describe the
phenomenon, the data of all “enlarged” European Union countries has
been put on a Cartesian axis, crossing percentages related to travel
organization through internet and travels towards long range destinations
(extra EU).
Countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Holland and Norway are among
those with a bigger inclination towards organizing their travels on the
internet and most of all travel towards extra EU countries. The general
indication is for all States included in this quadrant (top right) it would be
beneficial to strengthen awareness raising initiatives on the issue of child
exploitation on the web.

8

CONDUCT

Travel planning on the Internet/Extra EU destinations

Source: SL&A elaboration based on Eurobarometer data, 2013

Also citizens of the United Kingdom, Spain, France and Italy frequently
use internet to organize their travels, but travel less towards far away
destinations (and potentially more at risk).
The use of the web, on issues such as travel and vacations, has an even
greater value than that described insofar. Tripbarometer3 in fact indicates
that online platforms are the main source of information for travels: 92%
of travelers declared to have consulted online sources during planning and
booking phases of the last trip.
Sites which publish travel reviews are the most used source of information
(69%), followed by online travel agencies (57%) and web sites of tour
operators (56%). Less than one fifth (18%) declares they went to a
traditional travel agency to plan their most recent trip.

3
TripAdvisor survey 2012/2013

9

CONDUCT

Information sources

Source: TripAdvisor, 2012

Data corresponds perfectly to those published by Eurobarometer,
confirming that the value of the web and of tourism disintermediation is a
consolidated phenomenon, and one of great importance too.
The survey highlights in addition that online information sources are not
the most used during travel planning, but are also considered the most
useful and reliable. Traditional travel agencies obtained inferior results,
being considered a more important source of information by 4% of
customers and more reliable by 7%.

2.
Analysis of European Online Travel Agencies operating in EU
countries
To better analyze the phenomenon, a database of all Online Travel
Agencies operating in the 27 member States of the EU has been created:
but we may not base ourselves on official lists, because no country in the
world has, until now, created a law defining a list/register. The only
known referral seems to be ETTSA, the “European Technology & Travel
Services Association”, a mediation and European Global Distribution
Services (GDO) association.
10

CONDUCT

The job was therefore conducted by crossing different sources, or by
simply searching on the net. The web in fact allows access to all services
in the world in any country.
Sixty-two Online Travel Agencies have been surveyed in this way. More
than 82% (4 out of 5) are part of 6 international groups, which together
represent substantially all the online tourism market. Among these in
particular we find TripAdvisor Inc, which includes 19 OTAs, 31% of the
total.

Online Travel Agency Grouping
Source: SL&A direct survey for EBNT Observatory, 2013

Often they are portals similar to one another, rich in content, which allow
customers to acquire information on destinations, share the contents
themselves on the web, and naturally, purchase tourism services.
Around 57% of Online Travel Agencies analyzed allows to purchase all
tourism services, both individually (hotels, flights, cars, various activities)
and in the form of all inclusive trips (Dynamic Package or else). Of
portals, 11% offers various tourism services in single form, which in some
case may also be combined in a trip package. Around 32% focuses on the
sale of a single tourism product, in the majority of cases hotels, but
sometimes also cruises.

OTAs are all multilingual, often translated in more than ten languages; in
rare cases the translation was done only in two/three languages, English
being always present.
Legal and operative headquarters of the 62 Online Travel Agencies are in
69% of cases in the USA, while 31% refer to European nations. Six
portals have their operative HQ in Italy, five of these display, as provided
by the law, a travel agency license.

11

CONDUCT

The analysis of 62 websites, in relation the the object of the present
Observatory, highlight a discomforting scenario: no specific action
emerges (adhesion to campaigns, initiatives, logos, or else) on behalf of
OTAs on the issue of sexual exploitation of children.
The only referral found on this issue, on 3 of the 6 portals with HQ in
Italy, is the compulsory indication provided by law 269/98 in the “general
travel conditions” section. “Mandatory communication under article 16
law 269/98 – Italian law punishes with imprisonment all crimes related to
prostitution and child pornography, even if committed abroad”. The three
agencies are Expedia, Edreams and Logitravel, amounting to 5% of total
OTAs surveyed. It is important to highlight that such indication displayed
on the websites is present only in the Italian version, confirming that it is
done only to respect a law, and not because of a determined will to
perform actions to raise awareness regarding this issue.

Presence on the website of referrals to the struggle agaisnt sexual
exploitation of children in the tourism sector
Source: SL&A elaboration, 2013

The figure, compared to the analysis results of tour operators websites in
Italy and Europe which deal with outgoing travels, highlights how in the
scenario of Online Travel Agencies the percentage of referrals inherent to
the issue of sexual exploitation of children in tourism is clearly inferior.
78% of Italian tour operators highlights on their websites, or on
commercial downloadable catalogues, the referral to Law 269/98 and/or
the adhesion to awareness raising projects on this issue. The percentage of
online European tour operators which demonstrate an awareness of this
issue is 22%, highlighting the subscription to the Code of Conduct or the
adhesion/link to ECPAT.
The in depth analysis of the 62 websites of Online Travel Agencies
showed that 9 of these (amounting to 15%), European and non European,
invite tourists to visit institutional sites containing information and safety
measures for the trip (such as the Italian “viaggiare sicuri” website),
which by the way report in a detailed manner the issues tied to sexual
12

CONDUCT

exploitation of children and laws to fight against this phenomenon for
each destination.
During the survey phase, it was decided to focus the research on three
main Global Distribution Systems present on the international market:
Galileo, Amadeus and Sabre. The Global Distribution System (GDS) is an
electronic distribution system for the management and booking of hotels,
cars, rentals etc. A system used mainly by traditional travel agencies for
the booking of tourism services.
All three surveyed operators have subscribed the Code of Conduct,
committing to perform awareness raising actions towards their suppliers
and customers using their services.
In addition Sabre, which is part of a group together with other 4 important
online travel agencies (Travelprice, Travelocity, Lastminute.com and
Zuji), has created in 2012 a “Passport to Freedom”, an international
initiative which has the aim of uniting the forces of all the tourism sector
to fight against the problem of human trafficking.
“Passport to Freedom” increases awareness regarding trafficking and
human exploiting, and tries to give a solution. Various leaders of
government institutions, non profit organizations and travel industry took
part to its creation, to support the implementation of laws which punish
those committing this sort of crimes. Among partners we find Ecpat,
TheCode.org, Polaris Project, etc.
Sabre Holding has developed a Code of Conduct for suppliers, in which it
invites suppliers themselves to support and apply actions useful for
putting an end to trafficking of human beings and child exploitation.
Navigating the Sabre website, in the Corporate Responsibility section, we
may see that the issue is not considered secondary, but it's highlighted,
indicating all the positive elements of the struggle against human
exploitation, and underlining how it may become an interesting marketing
tool.
The six biggest groups, aggregating 82% of online portals for the
purchase of travels and tourism services, constitute an ideal filter to reach
the majority of tourists around the world, and at least the European
13

CONDUCT

demand. In addition to subscribing the Code of Conduct, as it has been
done by the main global tour operators, it would be beneficial to develop
specific awareness raising initiatives/campaigns with these subjects.

3.

The phenomenon examined through sector associations surveys

Data on sex tourism, involving abused children, is such that one would
ask himself how and through which channels it is organized.
Based on what has been already observed regarding the structure of the
tourism market, this Observatory has dedicated a much space to the
phenomenon of Online Travel Agencies, that is the use of internet for the
organization of travels and other things.
Anyway, the observation of tourism companies, being traditional travel
agencies or tour operators, which still perform traditional mediation
activities, represents a significant part of the generated traffic.
In the occasion of the 2013 edition, we deemed unavoidable to involve
Sector Associations of tourism companies at a national and European
level.
In synergy with the Safe host project – supporting European social parts
in the struggle against sexual exploitation of children in tourism- we have
first of all involved all employer representatives which are partners of the
project, thinking that raising awareness as a byproduct of the project itself
would produce a positive trend of information gathering and good
practices.
We have sent to Ectaa (European travel agents and tour operators) and
Fiavet (Federazione italiana agenzie di viaggio e turismo), partners of the
project, and to other associations we considered relevant to the
Observatory, a questionnaire to gather information regarding good
practices and action that all participating members possess and adopt
regarding the phenomenon in general and towards the struggle against sex
exploitation of children in particular.

14

CONDUCT

We have noticed that a new consciousness and awareness of the problem
was achieved, also thanks to the questionnaire, and this is to be considered
as a first step.
Associations that answered:
ABTO, Belgian tour operator association, declares to be aware of the
problem, and adheres to the Ecpat code of conduct and to the awareness
raising and dissemination activities. Also participates actively to Ecpat
meetings.
Has communicated that TUI applies this policy and develops training
courses for its employees.
ECTAA, European Travel Agents and Tour Operators, represents 21
European countries, and all major national tour operators associations in
the countries. Declares to perform a wide array of awareness raising
activities for the benefit of its associates.
Since 1996, all Ectaa members subscribe a declaration in which they
solemnly commit to not promoting in any way sex tourism with children,
and activate information activities towards customers, explaining the
consequences of child prostitution in the visited countries; in the
declaration there is in addition the commitment to cooperate with
competent authorities in the struggle against sexual exploitation of
children in tourism, and to help the victims.
Since 1997, Ectaa is an observer of the “ World tourism network on child
protection” formerly “ task force for the protection of children in
tourism”.
In 2000/2001 Ectaa participates to a EU funded project managed by
Ecpat, for the creation of a specific code of conduct for tour operators,
supported by many national sector associations (“The Code”).
In 2010 the “Destination and sustainabilty Commitee “ was established,
exchanging good practices regarding tourism and the struggle against
sexual exploitation of children in tourism.
Affiliates policies:

15

CONDUCT

Ectaa subscribed The Code, in particular together with: ORV (Austria),
SRV (Switzerland), DRV (Germany), FIAVET (Italy), ANAT (Romania),
ANRV (United Kingdom) and FEAAV (Spain).
Ectaa members which have presented some good practices regarding the
topics examined by the Observatory are:
Tour operators active in the struggle against sexual exploitation of
children in tourism
Abto
Belgium
DFR
Denmark
SNAV
France
DVR
Germany
SRF
Sweden
Abta
United Kingdom
Source: Ectaa, 2013

ABTA, during the SAFE HOST project conference which took place in
Florence in May 2013, announced its close cooperation with the British
police regarding the issue of sexual exploitation of children. The
association indicates various priorities, among which: the search for more
members, Adv, TO and the aim to include domestic violence and
kidnappings in the scope of their actions.
In addition, ABTA suggests to raise the attention level in occasion of
“great events” such as the Confederations Cup and the World Cup in
Brazil.
The resulting framework deriving fro this analysis of sector Associations
including European tour operators leaves us without doubts: if subjects
are aware of the problem posed by sexual exploitation of children, they
adopt a responsible and active attitude.
It is clear fro this analysis that also through the commitment of Ectaa, its
affiliates have acquired an active role in the struggle against children in
tourism through various projects.
There are no grey areas: or you are active in the struggle against sexual
exploitation of children, or you aren't doing anything about it.

16

CONDUCT

Considerations to be done are that countries which seem more active and
aware, through their tour operator associations, seem to be those from
where the offenders come from.
In general, the answer received by Sector Associations was not significant
in terms of quantity, so it is objective that in Europe there is still a low
attention towards this phenomenon, also on behalf of those Sector
Association which should orient and sensitise the policies of their
associates.
It is evident that Italy, with its law 269, demonstrates an attention, even
though due to the norm, which is superior and widespread among
professionals of the tourism sector.

4.
Interviews and analysis of Interpol and fraud squads of police
departments (England and the Netherlands)
After various editions of the Observatory in the years, we have clearly
identified the key role of international police forces or of countries of
origin of criminals, also regarding our work.
Data and trends, which may escape a flux analysis done from the tourism
companies' point of view, may be identified if gathered from police forces,
that work on identifying and prosecuting crimes linked to this hideous
trafficking.
We have identified some countries which have implemented repressive
programs against this crime, and others which have implemented good
practices.
The choice was done considering the will of the police forces to have a
“dialogue” with the tourism sector, well aware of the usefulness of this
synergy.

Following this logic, we chose:
• England - Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre
• Holland - National Police Services Agency of The Netherlands
17

CONDUCT

both of which have developed specific programs, and we tries to involve
Europol in this research.
We have started performing the survey by sending a letter and a
questionnaire (enclosed).
We have received an answer from both police forces, no answer was
received by Europol.
UNITED KINGDOM
CEOP, the child exploitation on line protection center, has developed
many actions regarding this issue.
In the meantime, a specific analysis on the travel and tourism sector was
carried out, clearly defining that access to internet, and as a consequence
reduced costs and wider audience are the cause of the increasing rates of
this kind of crime.
Various aspects have been analyzed, regarding countries that are a
destination for sex tourism involving children; for example, it is a paradox
that as more tourism infrastructures are developed which are desirable for
mass tourism, the gap between the poor and those with low literacy levels
increases, and with this there is also an increase in children sex tourism.
CST (children sex tourism) increases also due to weak and not adequate
local laws.
As a consequence, the tourism industry has a huge responsibility: it has
the duty to monitor and report all practices which damage children, and
regarding this, the EBNT Observatory is positioned in an admirable way.
CEOP has also an operative branch (ICPN: International child protection
network) working in close cooperation with all organizations which deal
with the struggle against sexual exploitation of children worldwide.
This cooperation allows to gain a better understanding of the phenomenon
all around the world, and produces training and educational projects
within the CEOP.

18

CONDUCT

One last “good practice” in the United Kingdom was the creation of the
“Child protection certificate records” that give information regarding
British citizens living in the UK and organizations worldwide that intend
to hire a person which will be in contact with children.
More than 2000 certificates were requested to this archive since October
2012. This seems to be an efficient tool for preventing the proliferation of
“embedded sex offenders”, those criminals which taking advantage of
their role, have an easy access to children , of whom they are given
custody.
HOLLAND
The Ministry of Security and Justice, from which police forces depend,
has been looking at the issue of sexual exploitation of children for years.
Since 2007, in the Schiphol airport (Amsterdam's airport and one with the
most daily transfers in the world) the Royal Netherland Marechausee
(Kmar) organizes cooperation activities with frontier police and public
persecution service (OM).
During these days all passengers of flights coming from countries where
children sex tourism is present are controlled to verify the possession of
child pornography.
Following this example, EUROPOL has coordinated two action days in
2011 and 2012 in the main European airports.
In addition to the many apprehensions reported, the most significant result
was the cooperation and awareness raising produced by these days among
the various authorities involved, cooperation which is key to reach a
tangible result.
In 2012, the cooperation was extended to non governmental organizations
and to the tourism sector companies, for a joint action involving
telephonic help lines, inviting tourists to report in anonymous form,
through the telephonic lines or website, all anomalous activities they are
aware of.
This activity has produced 27 reports from the 24th of October 2012 to the
15th of March 2013.

19

CONDUCT

These good practices clearly show that the struggle against sexual
exploitation of children is ore efficient if synergies are activated between
involved actors.

20

CONDUCT

5.

Update on implementation of EU 92/2011 Directive and
comparison with previous editions of Observatory L.269

The indication of national implementation measures does not assume
completeness of nor compliance with such measures.
NATIONAL DISPOSITION COMMUNICATED BY MEMBER STATES
RELATIVELY TO:
Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and Council, 13th December
2011, against the sexual abuse and exploitation of children and child
pornography, in substitution of framework decision 2004/68/JHA of the
Council.

From the last edition of the Observatory to this date, an important
deadline is getting closer: the Directive of the European Parliament of
December 2011 (regulating the crime of child pornography by aggravating
punishment and identifying a wider scenario for this crime, often hidden
behind the internet, so to escape controls more efficiently) must be
implemented by all Member States of the Union within 18th December
2013.

From query sent directly to DG justice, responsible for the Directive:
Europe Direct <citizen_reply@edcc.ec.europa.eu>
“Now, contrary to regulations applying internally in Member States directly after
this came into force, the Directive must be implemented by Member States.
This means that to find a concrete implementation of the principles expressed
in the Directive in favour of citizens, the national legislator must approve one
or more acts which adopt the Directive in the internal laws of the Member
State, adapting national legislation to achieve the objectives defined by the
Directive”.

Ratification entails that the Directive (having the role of advising and
guiding each Member State) becomes a national law. Hungary has
declared they are close to reaching this objective.
The challenge our Observatory has is that of “verifying” if and what
countries have accomplished this task. This is a difficult result to obtain,
since the ratification happens in a national logic, tied to laws and rules of
the ratifying country, so each country has its own legal procedure for this.
21

CONDUCT

Since there is no common procedure, nor an obligation on behalf of the
European Parliament to control the effective implementation of
ratification, it is very difficult to gather this kind of information.
With this in mind, we have proposed a query to the Italian office in the
European Parliament (enclosed email) to help us identify a modality for
gathering this information.
At the moment, there doesn't seem to be an entity, structure or
organisation which deals with such issues: each country is responsible for
the implementation and ratification of EU Directive 2011, and there are no
controls to impose this.
If the problems is raised by an organisation or a private citizen however, a
control and/or sanctioning action is activated by the EU itself.

Belgium:
N.A.
Bulgaria:
N.A.
Czech Republic:
N.A.
Denmark:
N.A.
Germany:
N.A.
Estonia:

Deadline for implementation: 18/12/2013
1.

Väljasõidukohustuse ja sissesõidukeelu seadus1

Implementation provision: seaduse parandus, Number: RT I, 18.04.2013, 14;
Official publication: Elektrooniline Riigi Teataja, Number: RT I, 18.04.2013, 14,
Effective date:28/04/2013; Referral: (MNE(2013)52910)
2.

Välismaalaste seadus1

22

CONDUCT
3.

Välismaalasele rahvusvahelise kaitse andmise seadus1

Pubblicazione ufficiale: Elektrooniline Riigi Teataja, Number: RT I, 18.04.2013, 11,
Effective date e:28/04/2013; Referral: (MNE(2013)52908)
4.

Sotsiaalhoolekande seadus

5.

Riigi õigusabi seadus

6.

Ohvriabi seadus1

Implementation provision: seaduse parandus, Number : RT I, 18.04.2013, 4;
Ireland:
N.A.
Greece:
N.A.
Spain:
N.A.
France:
N.A.
Italy:
N.A.
Cyprus:
N.A.
Latvia:
N.A.
Lithuania:
N.A.

23

CONDUCT
Luxembourg:

1. Loi du 21 février 2013 relative à la lutte contre les abus sexuels et
l’exploitation sexuelle des enfants et portant modification de plusieurs dispositions
du Code pénal
Implementation provision: Loi; Official publication: Mémorial Luxembourgeois A,
Number: 35, Effective date: 01/03/2013, Page: 00536-00537;
Referral:(MNE(2013)51654)
Hungary:
N.A.
Malta:
N.A.
Netherlands:
N.A.
Austria:

1. Gesetz, mit dem die Dienstordnung 1994 (32. Novelle zur Dienstordnung
1994), die Vertragsbedienstetenordnung 1995 (38. Novelle zur
Vertragsbedienstetenordnung 1995), die Pensionsordnung 1995 (23. Novelle zur
Pensionsordnung 1995), das Wiener Gleichbehandlungsgesetz (13. Novelle zum
Wiener Gleichbehandlungsgesetz), das Wiener Bedienstetenschutzgesetz 1998 (6.
Novelle zum Wiener Bedienstetenschutzgesetz 1998), das Wiener
Antidiskriminierungsgesetz (3. Novelle zum Wiener Antidiskriminierungsgesetz),
das Wiener Bezügegesetz 1995 (13. Novelle zum Wiener Bezügegesetz 1995) und
das Gesetz über die fachlichen Anstellungserfordernisse für die von der Stadt Wien
anzustellenden Kindergartenpädagogen/Kindergartenpädagoginnen und
Hortpädagogen/Hortpädagoginnen geändert werden
Implementation provision: Landesgesetz, Number: 88/2012; Official
publication: Landesgesetzblatt ( LGBl. ), Number: 88/2012, Date of
publication 31/12/2012; Referral:(MNE(2013)50578)
Poland:
N.A.
Portugal:
N.A.
Romania:
N.A.
Slovenia:

24

CONDUCT
1.

Zakon o spremembah in dopolnitvah zakona o kazenskem postopku

Implementation provision: Zakon; Official publication: Uradni list RS,
Number: 111/2001, Date of publication: 29/12/2001, Page: 13091-13094;
Referral: (MNE(2003)54170)
2.

Zakon o spremembah in dopolnitvah zakona o kazenskem postopku

Implementation provision: Zakon;Official publication: Uradni list RS,
3.

Zakon o spremembah in dopolnitvah Zakona o kazenskem postopku

Implementation provision: Zakon, Number 2005-01-4401; Official
publication: Uradni list RS, Number: 101/2005, Date of publication: 11/11/2005,
Page: 10624-10628, Effective date: 26/11/2005; Referral: (MNE(2013)51148)
4.

Pravilnik o izvrševanju pripora

Implementation provision: Pravilnik, Number: 1999-01-1761; Official
5.

Zakon o spremembah in dopolnitvah Zakona o izvrševanju kazenskih sankcij

Implementation provision: Zakon, Number: 2008-01-3346; Official
6.

Zakon o spremembah in dopolnitvah Zakona o izvrševanju kazenskih sankcij

Page: 12126-12132, Effective date 15/01/2013; Referral: (MNE(2013)51768)
7.

Pravilnik o spremembah in dopolnitvah pravilnika o izvrševanju pripora

8.

Zakon o izvrševanju kazenskih sankcij

9.

Zakon o sodelovanju v kazenskih zadevah z državami

10. lanicami Evropske unije
publication: Uradni list RS, Number 102/2007, Date of publication: 09/11/2007,
11. Zakon o spremembah in dopolnitvah Zakona o kazenskem postopku

25

CONDUCT
Page: 09238-09245, Effective date: 23/07/2008;Referral: (MNE(2013)51142)
12. Zakon o spremembah in dopolnitvah Zakona o kazenskem postopku
13. Zakon o spremembah in dopolnitvah zakona o kazenskem postopku
14. Zakon o spremembah in dopolnitvah zakona o kazenskem postopku
15. Zakon o kazenskem postopku
16. Zakon o spremembah in dopolnitvah Zakona o odgovornosti pravnih oseb za
kazniva dejanja
Implementation provision: Zakon, Numero: 2008-01-2818; Pubblicazione
ufficiale: Uradni list RS, Number: 65/2008, Date of publication: 30/06/2008,
17. Zakon o odgovornosti pravnih oseb za kazniva dejanja (ZOPOKD)
18. Zakon o spremembah in dopolnitvah Kazenskega zakonika (KZ-1B)
Implementation provision: Zakon, Number 2011-01-3913; Official
Page: 11826-11839, Effective date: 14/05/2012;Referral: (MNE(2011)57897)
19. Kazenski zakonik (KZ-1)
Implementation provision: Zakon; Official publication : Uradni list RS,
Number: 55/2008, Date of publication: 04/06/2008, Page: 05865-05911, Effective
date: 01/11/2008; Referral: (MNE(2008)55950)
20. Zakon o spremembah in dopolnitvah Zakona o odgovornosti pravnih oseb za
kazniva dejanja

26

CONDUCT
21. Pravilnik o spremembah in dopolnitvah Pravilnika o izvrševanju pripora
Slovakia:
N.A.
Finland:
N.A.
Sweden:
N.A.
United Kingdom:
N.A.
Source: europa.lex

So, based on an official European source, until today (beginning of June
2013) only 4 countries in addition to Italy have adopted the EU Directive.

27

CONDUCT

ANNEX: A CONVERGENT ACTION
European Council “Strategy for the Rights of the Child 2012-2015”
IMMAGINI DA INCOLLARE

28

CONDUCT

A.1. Database of Online Travel Agencies
The creation of a database of all Online Travel Agencies which operate in
the tourism sector in the 27 Member States of the UE which are the object
of this analysis, may not be base on official lists.
No nation in the world has until now has produced laws on this topic,
defining a list/register; the only recognized referral to date seems to be
ETTSA, the “European Technology & Travel Services Association”, an
association of mediators and European Global Distribution Services
(GDO).
This work was therefore achieved by cross linking different sources, and
through the simple search on the internet: the world wide web in fact
allows access to all services in the world from any country.

Online Travel
Agencies List
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

Name
Trivago
Expedia
hotels.com
Hotwire
Car Rentals
Egencia
Classic Vacations
eLong
Venere
Edreams
GoVoyages
Opodo
Travellink
Nome
Odigeo
Ebookers.com
Orbitz
Hotel Club
Rates to go

website
www.trivago.it
www.expedia.com
www.hotels.com
www.hotwire.com
www.carrentals.com
www.egencia.it
www.classicvacations.com
www.elong.net
www.venere.com
www.edreams.com
www.govoyages.com
www.opodo.com
www.travellink.com
sito web
www.odigeo.com
www.ebookers.com
www.orbitz.com
www.hotelclub.com
www.ratestogo.com

Group
EXPEDIA INC
EXPEDIA INC
EXPEDIA INC
EXPEDIA INC
EXPEDIA INC
EXPEDIA INC
EXPEDIA INC
EXPEDIA INC
EXPEDIA INC
Odigeo
Odigeo
Odigeo
Odigeo
Gruppo
Odigeo
Orbitz
Orbitz
Orbitz
Orbitz
29

CONDUCT
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

Mr Jet
Cheap Ticket
Orbitz Business
Adventure Travel
Lodging
Away
Gorp
Asia Hotels
Trip
Kayak
Booking
Priceline
Agoda

www.mrjet.se
www.cheaptickets.com
www.orbitzforbusiness.com
www.adventurefinder.com
www.lodging.com
www.away.com
www.gorp.com
www.asiahotels.com
www.trip.com
www.kayak.it
www.booking.com
www.priceline.com
www.agoda.com

32 IgoUgo

www.igougo.com

33 Lastminute.com

www.it.lastminute.com

34 Zuji

www.zuji.com

35 Travelprice

www.travelprice.it

36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51

www.tripadvisor.it
www.airfarewatchdog.com
www.bookingbuddy.com
www.cruisecritic.com
www.everytrail.com
www.familyvacationcritic.com
www.flipkey.com
www.holidaylettings.co.uk
www.holidaywatchdog.com
www.independenttraveler.com
www.onetime.com
www.seatguru.com
www.sniqueaway.com
www.smartertravel.com
www.tingo.com
www.travel-library.com
sito web
www.travelpod.com
www.virtualtourist.com
www.whereivebeen.com
www.kuxun.cn
www.travelport.com
www.amadeus.com
www.sabre-holdings.com

52
53
54
55
56
57
58

TripAdvisor
Air Fare Watch Dog
Booking Buddy
Cruise Critic
Every Trail
Family Vacation critic
Flip key
Holiday Lettings
Holiday Watch Dog
Independent Traveler
One Time
Seat Guru
Snique Away
Smart Travel
Tingo
Travel Library
Nome
Travel Pod
Virtual Tourist
Where ive been
Kuxun
Travelport
Amadeus
Sabre Holding

Orbitz
Orbitz
Orbitz
Orbitz
Orbitz
Orbitz
Orbitz
Orbitz
Orbitz
Priceline
Priceline Group
Priceline Group
Priceline Group
Travelocity - Sabre
Holding
Travelocity - Sabre
Holding
Travelocity - Sabre
Holding
Travelocity - Sabre
Holding
Tripadvisor Inc,
EXPEDIA INC
TripAdvisor, Inc.
TripAdvisor, Inc.
TripAdvisor, Inc.
TripAdvisor, Inc.
TripAdvisor, Inc.
TripAdvisor, Inc.
TripAdvisor, Inc.
TripAdvisor, Inc.
TripAdvisor, Inc.
TripAdvisor, Inc.
TripAdvisor, Inc.
TripAdvisor, Inc.
TripAdvisor, Inc.
TripAdvisor, Inc.
TripAdvisor, Inc.
Gruppo
TripAdvisor, Inc.
TripAdvisor, Inc.
TripAdvisor, Inc.
TripAdvisor, Inc.

Sabre Holding
30

CONDUCT
59 Logitravel
www.logitravel.it
60 World Choise Travel
www.worldchoicetravel.co.uk
61 Book it
www.bookit.com
62 Traveleurope
www.traveleurope.com
63 Olta
www.olta.it
64 Voyages sncf
www.tgv-europe.it
65 QCUScruise
www.crocieraonline.com
List of OLTAs (database under development).

------------www.qcnscruise.com

31

CONDUCT

A.2. Questionnaire for survey on Online Travel Agencies
All those companies identified as OTAs, present in the previous list, are
now involved in a direct survey, aimed at understanding their attitude
towards children sex tourism and relative contrast actions, through a
survey questionnaire such as the one we present hereunder:
Draft

National Observatory for the implementation of law 269/98
and Code of Conduct for the Tourism Industry
SafeHost Project - Year 2013
OTA ___________ Location__________ Class _____

Control Sheet for Online Travel Agencies
Main languages in which the portal is translated
ITA

UK

GER

FRA

SPA

HOL

DEN

SWE

RUS

OTHER
________________________________________________________________
Tourism services offered:
Hotel

Flight

Car

Activities/Excursions

Integrated packages

Other activities
____________________________________________________________
Continents in which you plan travels:
Europe

Africa

Asia

Oceania

North America

South America

***
The OLTA highlights in their website (various sections) referrals regarding the struggle
against child prostitution in tourism
NO

YES–specify _________________________________________

YES – Code of Conduct
specify (logo, text) ____________________________
Notes _____________________________________________________________________

A.3.

Tour Operators and travel agencies database

32

CONDUCT

Member
States
EU
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
United
Kingdom
Czech Republic
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Hungary

Associations of Tour Operators and Travel Agencies
European Tour Operator Association
ORV (Österreichischer Reisebüroverband / Association of Austrian
Travel Agents)
WKO (Fachverband der Reisebüros)
FIT/FTI (Fédération de l’Industrie du Tourisme / Federatie van de
Toeristische Industrie)
BATA (Bulgarian Association of Travel Agents)
ABTTA (Association of Bulgarian Tour Operators and Travel Agents)
ACTA (Association of Cyprus Travel Agents)
DRF (The Association of Danish Travel Agents and Tour Operators)
ETFL (Estonian Association of Travel Agents)
SMAL (Suomen matkatoimistoalan liitto / The Association of Finnish
Travel Agents)
SNAV (Syndicat National des Agences de Voyages)
DRV (Deutscher ReiseVerband)
HATTA (Hellenic Association of Travel and Tourist Agencies)
ITAA (Irish Travel Agents Association)
FIAVET (Federazione Italiana Associazioni Imprese Viaggi e Turismo)
ASTOI (Associazione Tour Operator Italiani)
ALTA (Association of Latvian Travel Agents)

FATTA (Federation of Associations of Travel & Tourism Agents)
ANVR (Algemeen Nederlands Verbond van Reisondernemingen)
PIT (Polska Izba Turystyki)
APAVT (Associação Portuguesa das Agências de Viagens e Turismo)
ABTA (The Travel Association)
ACCKA (Asociace Ceskych Cestovnich Kancelari a Agentur)
ANAT (Asociatia Nationala A Agentiilor De Turism).
SACKA (Slovak Association of Travel Agents)
ZTAS (Zdruzenje Turisticnih Agencij Slovenije)
AEDAVE (Associación Empresarial de Agencias de Viajes Españolas)
ACAV (Asociación Catalana de Agencias de Viajes)
SRF (Svenska Resebyråföreningen / Association of Swedish Travel
Agents)
MUISZ (Association of Hungarian Travel Agencies)

A.4. Questionnaire for survey on Tour Operators and travel agencies
associations
33

CONDUCT

European Tourism Observatory
against sexual exploitation of children in tourism sector
A. Are you aware of the detrimental practice of sexual exploitation of children in the
tourism sector?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
B. How does your organization and affiliates face the problem?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
C Is there a specific policy being enforced by your affiliates, regarding the issue of
sexual exploitation of children in the tourism sector?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

This questionnaire may be sent back via email, fax or ordinary mail to the following
addresses: SL&A – Via Iside 8 – 00184 Rome – Fax +39 06 47823753 – email:
survey.ebnt@gmail.com
For further information or to fill in the questionnaire via telephone: +39 06 4741245

34

CONDUCT

A.5. Letter and draft of interview to police forces
Dear ……,
For years our country has been committed in the struggle
against sexual exploitation of children in the tourism sector. In
this context, the Ente Bilaterale Nazionale del Turismo has
been promoting for years a National Observatory for the
implementation of law 269/98 and of the Code of Conduct
acknowledged in July 19th 2003 by the National Labor
Contract (CCNL) of the tourism sector, which includes all
information on what companies and the Institutions have done
in compliance with Law 269 and relative Code of Conduct.
In occasion of the participation of EBNT, as a partner of the
Safe Host project “Supporting European Social Partners in
combating Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and
Tourism”, funded by the EU through the social dialogue
budget line, we wish to give our contribution, making available
all updated data coming from the Observatory, and widening
the research field to include the Police Forces of various
European countries, that are currently fighting against sexual
exploitation of children. We actually believe that the role
played by police forces at national and international level is
crucial, and having a comprehensive view of this aspect as
well, will help the Observatory to reach better results.
With this aim, we have prepared some questions, included
in the enclosed form. The interviews will be carried out by
SL&A, a company contracted by us, and expert in this specific
sector and issues.
It will be our concern to keep you updated on the results of
the survey, which you will be able to look at yourself here:
http://www.ebnt.it/gestione_osservatorio/Documenti/26_2010_
6_14_Report_2009.pdf
best regards
Vice-president
Lucia Anile

President
Alfredo Zini

A.6. Email di richiesta al Parlamento Europeo

35

CONDUCT
Date: 09 April 2013 11:21
Object: observatory on the struggle against sexual exploitation of children in tourism
To: roberta.quadrini@europarl.europa.eu

Dear Ms. Roberta Quadrini
Following our conversation by telephone earlier today, I will summarize what we have
told each other. I am taking care together with SL&A -Rome and on behalf of EBNT
Ente bilaterale nazionale turismo of monitoring the various aspects of the struggle
against sexual exploitation of children in the tourism industry.
Within this context, we are monitoring the
DIRECTIVE 2011/92/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE
COUNCIL of 13th December 2011
on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child
pornography, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA.
The Directive foresees a ratification by member States.
The request is: how may we know which countries have ratified the Directive?
Any information you could give me would be extremely useful.
Thank you,
best regards

36

CONDUCT

37

Ebnt observatory on combacting the sexual children exploitation in tourism eng

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Ebnt observatory on combacting the sexual children exploitation in tourism eng

Similar to Ebnt observatory on combacting the sexual children exploitation in tourism eng (20)

More from SAFE HOST PROJECT

More from SAFE HOST PROJECT (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Ebnt observatory on combacting the sexual children exploitation in tourism eng