The report concentrates on “direct employment practices” within the hotel chains,
rather than via franchising or other third party relationships. The review is structured
around the key themes from the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles for Multinational
Enterprises. 2
The review is based mainly on publicly available information, supplemented by a
limited number of interviews with key hotel sector personnel. The research focused
particularly on the following hotel chains: Accor International, Global Hyatt Group,
Intercontinental Hotels Group, Hilton Hotels Corporation, Mandarin Oriental Group,
Marriott International, Rezidor SAS, Shangri La Hotels & Resorts, Starwood Hotels &
Resorts Worldwide, Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces. These chains were chosen in part
because of their size (most are in the top 10 largest groups worldwide), but also to ensure a
reasonable geographical spread, both in terms of hotel locations and in home territory. This
report provides a scoping study, not an in-depth analysis. It has been commissioned to
encourage dialogue among key stakeholders on the issues raised. A more detailed
investigation may need to be carried out in the future.