July 30th, 2024 HotelSwaps today announced a collaboration with Marriott International for the pilot launch of HotelHelp, a hotel rooms donation program for survivors of human trafficking. HotelHelp currently works with Marriott’s portfolio of hotels that are willing to donate short-term emergency stays and established care providers who book these rooms for the survivors they support.
HotelHelp is being piloted in five U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Detroit, Phoenix, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., and is expected to expand to 25 cities across North America by January 2025. In the long term, the plan is to scale the program to additional locations globally, to other hotel companies, and to serve other vulnerable communities in need of short-term accommodation.
Modelled after the success of HospitalityHelps, an online booking platform established in 2022 by HotelSwaps in collaboration with PKF International, and the Bench to provide short-term hotel stays for Ukrainian refugees, HotelHelp leverages a proven system to facilitate hotel room donations for people in need.
“During the first three months of the war in Ukraine, HospitalityHelps booked over 100,000 room nights in 630 hotels across Europe and beyond,” said Preben Vestdam, Founder and CEO of HotelSwaps. Preben added, “Our collaboration with Marriott International allows us to expand this platform to help further vulnerable communities worldwide.”
“We are proud to collaborate with HotelSwaps for the pilot launch of HotelHelp” said Apoorva Gandhi, Senior Vice President, Multicultural Affairs, Social Impact and Business Councils at Marriott International. “Our participation in HospitalityHelps, where 87 hotels within the Marriott portfolio donated over 8,700 room nights to Ukrainian refugees, provided a strong foundation for the expansion of these efforts.”
On the HotelHelp platform, participating care providers can reserve up to five room nights per person and make reservations on behalf of their clients to protect the confidentiality of the survivors they serve. Using a localised approach, HotelHelp introduces care providers and participating hotels to one another and encourages them to work together to navigate the nuances of each stay.
For more information about the HotelHelp programme, visit www.hotel-help.org.
