Iowa is scheduled to be the first state in the country to launch “model legislation” designed to fight human trafficking in the lodging industry. Chip Rodgers, president and C-E-O of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, says hotel employees can play a key role in spotting and stopping what he refers to as modern-day slavery.

He adds hoteliers are in a unique position to identify and disrupt this terrible practice.

While thousands of hotel employees are trained every year already, the association is working to convene the entire industry with the goal of training every hotel worker.