HOTELS AND TOURISM LAB

“Our teams are responders and every interaction with guests or our fellow team members has the potential to contribute to someone’s safety, dignity and options.” [Hotel Personnel]

The 'Hotels and Tourism Lab' is a self-service space that collates a selection of free (donated) insights and reflection materials to build on the understanding of and responses to violence and abuse through industries such as transportation, accommodation, food & beverage, attractions and entertainment, business and leisure events and travel services. On this page you can explore:

Why industry understanding and responses matter
What is domestic, family and sexualised violence?
Listening to lived experience insights about violence and abuse
Many victim-survivors of violence and abuse are silent or silenced
Build on safety and responses
Ideas for action
Examples of Hotel participation & responses

Why industry understanding and responses matter

People subjected to violence and abuse are part of every community and workplace. Adults, Young people and children may be hotel guests and users of a range of tourism products and services in their lifetime.

Hotels and the Tourism industry are an important part of the ecosystem of responses to domestic, family and sexualised violence. For example: Staff are responders to peer colleagues (in the workplace) and to guests (as a service provider), and to partners/collaborators (as a business). Hotels and the Tourism industry also serve as places and spaces that can be important in creating private/discreet responses to individuals and broader public safety responses.

What is domestic and family violence?

View, share, embed the 'What is domestic and family violence?' animation (4mins) below. You can also read and share: 'What is domestic and family violence?' (PDF).

Listening to lived experience insights

In listening to lived experience of violence and abuse through the Be-a-participant initiative, we continue to hear that violence and abuse takes many forms and can involve hotels and the tourism industry. For example: Laura was assaulted in the hotel room, Dorothy was reliant on the hotel to be able to get away discreetly and quickly with the children, Gemma's child was taken and taken to a hotel, the refuge couldn’t accommodate Jessica and her children so they were temporarily housed in a hotel, and Mishka was lured to a hotel and was held captive for nine hours.

Silent and Silenced

Many victim-survivors of violence and abuse are silent or are silenced.

SILENCE

"Less than 40 per cent of the women who experience violence seek help of any sort.”

[UN Women]

TALK

"In the majority of countries with available data on this issue, among women who do seek help, most look to family and friends and very few look to formal institutions, such as police and health services. Fewer than 10 per cent of those seeking help reported to the police.”

[UN Women]

SILENCED

Many victim-survivors are silenced by the violence and abuse used against them and by unhelpful and harmful responses in society, services and systems.

"Responses don’t ‘start’ when someone ‘tells’ us something. We have been responding all along (directly or indirectly) through our stance, our silence, our action or inaction about violence and abuse. We are responders even when nothing is told to us." [Talk]

Build on safety and responses - Hotels and Tourism

There are many ways that personnel working in Hotels and Tourism are already building on safety and dignity. To build on responses to domestic, family and sexualised violence, Hotels and the Tourism industry can be using these insight-informed free (donated) materials with team, guests, visitors, partner suppliers and collaborators.

Follow My Lead

'Follow My Lead' is a resource designed to build on the understanding of people responding to control, abuse and violence.

Hotels have said 'Follow My Lead' is useful to the industry because “When responding to domestic violence, we need to rethink our solution focused approach – we need a real gear change, to just first listen to people’s experiences and then be guided by the victim-survivor.”

View the animation and/or read the booklet →

My Safety Kit

'My Safety Kit' is a reflection resource designed to support people who are, or may be, experiencing domestic, family and sexualised violence.

Hotels have said 'My Safety Kit' is useful to the industry because: “When reading this resource, it made me think that it is important to not make assumptions about the choices someone makes. When a person in the hotel might ask for help, it’s what they need there and then. I shouldn't assume that what they need won't change, because it does.”

View the animation and/or read the booklet →

Talk

'Talk' - a reflection resource designed to reveal and value the strategic considerations of victim-survivors when deciding if, when and how to tell someone about experiences of violence and abuse.

Hotels have said 'Talk' is useful to the industry because: “Before I had read the ‘TALK’ resource I would have jumped in and unwittingly reinforced all the myths about disclosure.”

Read the booklet →

I am. I can.

‘I am. I can' was created to invite reflection about the use of violence (in any form) being a ‘choice’. We can each choose non-violence in all relationships.

Hotels have said 'I am. I can." is useful to the industry because: “This made me aware of the many ways in which people choose to use violence and abuse, beyond physical assaults. I had not previously stopped to think about things like economic or systems abuse.”

View the animation →

Our Responses

'Our Responses' focuses on how we cannot guess or assume when responding to violence and abuse.

Hotels have said 'Our Responses' is useful to industry because: "It made me notice that we are all responders and we are always responding. I liked that the materials said this - that we are responding even when we do or say nothing.”

View the animation →

Five ideas for action - Hotels and Tourism

“This made me reflect on the many reasons why, in the past, people who I knew were experiencing violence, choose not to speak up about it in the workplace. My offers to help were declined and I had to reconcile within myself that ensuring they kept their job at the hotel was in itself, an important support.” [Hotel Personnel]

The following five ideas are examples and are not exhaustive. They are nonsequential possibilities you can use to build on safety and dignity in your responses to violence and abuse. You can use some or all of these ideas simultaneously.

(1) Explore and share insight-informed materials

Individually and collectively, we can listen to and be led by victim-survivors’ insights and experiences of violence and abuse. In the 'exploring' menu you can view and read free (donated) animations., lightboxes and materials informed by lived experience insights. For Hotels & Tourism we suggest starting with the animation 'Our Actions'.

We invite Hotels & Tourism to share the materials with team, guests and visitors, as well as partner suppliers, businesses and collaborators.

Print to share: Share the printed landing cards (with static QR codes) to share access in communities, workplaces, businesses, systems and institutions.

(2) Order and share free landing cards

We invite Hotels & Tourism to order the free (donated) Insight Exchange landing cards. These are designed to share discreet access to the insights and materials. They are small business card size cards and have a static QR code (on side B) for quick access to the Insight Exchange website and resources.

Shipping is worldwide and delivery is direct to the address supplied in the order form. Please allow 3 weeks from the date your order is confirmed.

(3) Host a Voices of Insight Collection

Voices of Insight - de-identified descriptions of people’s lived experience of domestic, family and sexualised violence and other adversities. The insights highlight victim-survivor resistance and responses to violence, and the helpful, unhelpful or harmful ways people, services and systems responded.

We invite Hotels & Tourism to loan and exhibit the free (donated) Voices of Insight Collection within their spaces.

(4) Uplift workplace responses and widen support options

To build on safety and wellbeing in the workplace, we invite Hotels & Tourism to review and uplift responses to violence and abuse using the Guide: Uplifting workplace responses. All businesses can widen the support options made available as a workplace. Explore My Support Options - a menu designed to share examples of what victim-survivors of domestic, family and sexualised violence have wished for and/or asked for from their workplace.

(5) Share and embed free (donated) modules

We invite Hotels & Tourism to view, share and embed the free (donated) Insight Exchange modules in professional development sessions and on business websites, socials or intranet systems.

The modules are embedded on our website and available on our Vimeo Channel. For Hotels & Tourism we suggest starting with 'Any Responder' followed by 'Foundations'.

Start a conversation with Insight Exchange

We invite you to contact us to (1) have a conversation about how you can use the Hotels and Tourism Lab (2) ask for a virtual walk through of some of the insights and materials (3) express interest in a Creating Conversation session (virtual or in-person). Simply complete the short form below and we will be in touch.

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HOTEL PARTICIPATION & RESPONSES

Creating Conversations sessions (in-person or virtual) are designed to create opportunities to participate in cross-sector conversations - listening and responding to domestic, family and sexualised violence. The conversations draw from Insight Exchange insights and resources. Each session invites you to consider how your work (and our collective efforts) respond to people who are silent about, or silenced by, violence and abuse. There is no one preference or path for support. Every responder, community and industry matters.

In FY24/25 & FY25/26 combined 332 people working in the Hotels industry participated in Creating Conversations Sessions (148 people in FY24/25 and 184 people in FY25/26).

Participants worked in varied roles, for example: Food and Beverage, Hotel General Management, Head Chefs, Learning and Development, Security, Housekeeping Services, Accommodation Services, Engineers, Security, Duty Managers, Front desk, Reservation and Reception Services, Apartments and Reality, House Keeping Managers, Area/Cluster Management, Legal Counsel, Financial Controller, Hotel Performance, Sales and Hospitality Services, Executive Leaders, Safety and Diversity, Human Resources, Talent, People & Culture, Airline lounges, & Peak Bodies.

Participants responses - Click to open

Read participants responses to the insights and materials.

Click the link above or the first tile below to open the responses. The lightbox gallery of responses will open in full screen.

Creating Conversations PARTICIPANT INSIGHTS (Insight Exchange)

Title Slide

“Before I had read the ‘TALK’ resource I would have jumped in and unwittingly reinforced all the myths about disclosure.”

Participant Insights

“The session made me aware of the many ways in which people choose to use violence and abuse, beyond physical assaults. I had not previously stopped to think about things like economic or systems abuse.”

Participant Insights

“Since attending the session, I am more tuned in to things… like I’m even noticing controlling behaviours in relationships with friends and family members.”

Participant Insights

“The feedback has been overwhelming positive with messages of support and ideas of what we can do next.”

Participant Insights

“Knowing that all of this information comes from the voices of people with lived experience makes it so much more important to know than I first thought.”

Participant Insights

“I think it is important to share this material with our teams, in regards to how we can make people more confident to disclose. By talking about this work, by sharing these resources, we can set the scene for our teams to know that that as leaders, we are here.”

Participant Insights

“I can, in my role, share this material digitally and I will do that.”

Participant Insights

“We often go to police when there is a crisis, but what happens when they don't do anything, or say there is not enough for them to do anything…Can we go to them proactively and share this ...maybe even inviting them to look at this material with us.”

Participant Insights

“The session was powerful. It has planted important seeds for continued conversations and actions across our hotels.”

Participant Insights

“Today’s session reinforced the idea that hotels are more than places of service. Our teams are social responders, and every interaction has the potential to contribute to someone’s safety, dignity, and recovery.”

Participant Insights

“It is a reminder that every person has a story and that we need to listen without judgement.”

Participant Insights

“A victim of violence requested a room to be in away from her partner. We gave her a room alone for the next couple of days. But when it was time for them both to check out, after all that, she left with him. I was feeling like 'was that worth all the effort to keep her safe?’ But now when I think of that, I know that we did the right thing ...we responded to what she needed at the time.”

Participant Insights

“This has broadened my understanding of what constitutes violence and abuse – it’s so much more than physical assaults.”

Participant Insights

“I don’t think that our current support options for victim-survivors’ are known widely enough…we need to communicate these more and at all levels of the organisation.”

Participant Insights

“Reflecting on what we have learnt today, I am going to follow up and check in on people if we have referred them to other services – I’ll be asking, how did that go, was it useful, how else can I help?”

Participant Insights

“I am thinking that we need to ‘look at the familiar differently’ – just like we do when we look at how can we improve our guests’ journey – maybe we can create a ‘check in’ with staff periodically to give people an opportunity to tell us how they are travelling, if they want to.”

Participant Insights

“When reading this resource, it made me think that it is important to not make assumptions about the choices someone makes. When a person in the hotel might ask for help, it’s what they need there and then. I shouldn't assume that what they need won't change, because it does.”

Participant Insights

“I was really struck by the statistics - that so few victim-survivors actually go to police or to a formal responder. It really challenges my perception.”

Participant Insights

“When responding to domestic violence, we need to rethink our solution focused approach – we need a real gear change, to just first listen to people’s experiences and then be guided by the victim-survivor.”

Participant Insights

“This made me reflect on the many reasons why, in the past, people who I knew were experiencing violence, choose not to speak up about it in the workplace. My offers to help were declined and I had to reconcile within myself that ensuring they kept their job at the hotel was in itself, an important support.”

Participant Insights

“It’s not about us influencing victim-survivors’ decisions – it’s about following their lead – we need to support them where they are at. It is their journey not ours.”

Participant Insights

“We need to be showing victim- survivors that we stand with them – not only in a time of crisis, but by calling out below the line or sexist comments in the tearoom, in meetings or in any interactions. If we don’t respond to that, why would victim – survivors trust we will stand with them.”

Participant Insights

“We want to create an environment that allows people to speak up if they choose to.”

Participant Insights

“It’s not what we do as managers or staff when there is an issue or a crisis, it’s what we do and how we do it all of the time that matters. Trust is built in the everyday interactions.”

Participant Insights

“It’s about being ok with silence…people will come to or share more with us if they choose to.”

Participant Insights

“Sometimes it is difficult when reporting concerns (to Police). The response is often that there ‘is no evidence’ or ‘that nothing serious has happened. ‘ What I am thinking about now is including in my call to Police, that we are calling because we are concerned and we want to prevent something from happening. We need the Police to follow our lead too.”

Participant Insights

“It is important to be relational all the time as Managers, to be genuinely interested in our team members…that way we are demonstrating that we are approachable and can be attentive to things big or small, and not only in a moment of crisis.”

Participant Insights

“I think this opportunity needs to be offered to all leaders in the business, if not mandatory.”

Participant Insights

“I am aware of the welfare and self-care of our staff. This is important in being able to be present in responding to others. Sometimes we just don’t know if they will be OK when they leave us…we keep thinking about if they are OK.”

Participant Insights

“I wish I had known more about all of this and had access to these materials when I previously worked in hotels in regional areas and in cities.”

Participant Insights

“We need to check back in with people to see how they are going – is there anything else I can support with? Was the referral to the support service or EAP useful?”

Participant Insights

Creating Conversations sessions are designed to create opportunities to participate in cross-sector conversations - listening and responding to domestic, family and sexualised violence. The conversations draw from Insight Exchange insights and resources. Each session invites you to consider how your work (and our collective efforts) respond to people who are silent about, or silenced by, violence and abuse. There is no one preference or path for support. Every responder, community and industry matters. www.insightexchange.net/creating-conversations/

Back Cover Page

Participating Hotels - Click to open

In 2024-2026 Creating Conversations sessions provide opportunity to participate in Hotel Industry conversations responding to Insight Exchange insights and materials: Hotels Lab, Follow My Lead, TALK and My Safety Kit as well as Voice of Insight Collection. In some sessions we also shared I am. I can. and Our Actions.

May 2026 (Adelaide) – this Hotels Lab Creating Conversations session in Adelaide was hosted by Accor Group at Ibis Adelaide and facilitated by Insight Exchange. The session involved 13 guests – Talent & Culture, Hotel General Managers, Food and Beverage and Front desk team leaders from Qantas Lounge, Sofitel, Ibis and the Pullman hotels.

March 2026 (Sydney) – the second Creating Conversations session held in NSW for the Hyatt Hotel group was facilitated by Insight Exchange. The session engaged 20 participants – leaders from within Human Resources, Hotel General Management, Head Chefs, Learning and Development, Security, Housekeeping and Accommodation services from the Park Hyatt and Caption by Hyatt.

November 2025 (Melbourne) – The second Creating Conversations session held in Melbourne for the Hyatt Hotel group was facilitated by Insight Exchange. The session included 30 leaders from within Human Resources, Hotel General Management, Food and Beverage, Engineers, Security, Housekeeping and Reservations services.

October 2025 (virtual WA & QLD) - the first virtual Creating Conversations session, including team members from Karratha (WA), Geraldton (WA) & Mt Isa (QLD) for the Accor Hotel group. Facilitated by Insight Exchange, the session engaged 6 team members from Hotel General Management, Duty Managers, Reception and Accommodation services from across four regional hotels.

September 2025 (Melbourne) – the first Creating Conversations session to be held in Victoria for the Hyatt Hotel group was facilitated by Insight Exchange. The session engaged 23 guests including leaders from within Human Resources, Hotel General Management, Head Chefs, Engineers, Security, Housekeeping and Accommodation services from three hotels in Melbourne.

August 2025 (Sydney) – the first Creating Conversations session in Sydney with 30+ Accor Group leaders and executive staff. The session was hosted by Pullman Sydney Hyde Park and facilitated by Insight Exchange. Guests included leaders working in 16 different hotels in NSW, as well as leaders working in Pacific region and Executive in Corporate Office functions. Examples of participants roles included General Managers, Area/Cluster Management, Legal Counsel, Financial Controller, Hotel Performance, Apartments and Reality, People and Culture.

August 2025 (Sydney) – the first Creating Conversations session with Hyatt Hotels in Sydney, hosted by Hyatt Regency Sydney and including team from Hyatt Regency Sydney, Park Hyatt Sydney and Caption by Hyatt Sydney (new). The session was facilitated by Insight Exchange and involved 30+ guests including people working in Hotel Management, Rooms, Security, Human Resources and more.

July 2025 (Palm Cove) – the third Creating Conversations session to be held in QLD, hosted by Accor Group and facilitated by Insight Exchange involved 21 guests – leaders from within Apartments and Reality, Hotel General Managers, Human Resources, Food and Beverage and Housing Keeping Managers from hotels in Cairns, Palm Cove and Port Douglas. Participants at this session shared examples of helpful responses from hotels for both guests and team members. The examples highlighted issues for victim-survivors that are exacerbated in regional communities and the need for individualised responses.

July 2025 (Brisbane) – the second Creating Conversations session to be held in QLD, hosted by Accor Group and facilitated by Insight Exchange involved 11 guests – national and local leaders from within Apartments and Reality, Talent & Culture and Hotel General Managers from hotels in Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast. Participants highlighted the need for a deeper understanding of the experiences and needs of victim-survivors. This group expressed that given how many people are silent or silenced, there is a critical need for broad communication of flexible and tangible supports within workplaces and communities.

May 2025 (Adelaide) – the first Hotels Lab Creating Conversations session in Adelaide and was hosted by Accor Group and facilitated by Insight Exchange. The session involved 16 guests – leaders from within Apartments and Reality, Talent & Culture and Hotel General Managers from hotels in Adelaide. Participants at this session have highlighted the need for exploring and using ways to broaden the access to professional development materials through online learning platforms. Given that many victim-survivors are ‘silent’ about or ‘silenced’ by violence and abuse, participants also highlighted the importance of proactive communications that demonstrate the business stands with victim-survivors of violence and abuse.

April 2025 (Perth) – the first Creating Conversations session to be held in WA, this session was hosted by Accor Group and facilitated by Insight Exchange. The session involved 25 guests from Executive Leaders, Legal Directors, Apartments and Reality, Hotel General Managers, Talent & Culture, Safety and Diversity leaders from a number of hotels in Perth and some attendees who joined from other states.

March 2025 (Gold Coast) – the first Creating Conversations session to be held in QLD, this session was hosted by Accor Group and facilitated by Insight Exchange. The session involved 40 guests including Executive Leaders, Legal Directors, Apartments and Reality, Hotel General Managers, Talent & Culture, Safety and Diversity leaders from a number of hotels in Surfers Paradise.

October 2024 (Sydney) - Building on the engagement of the hotel industry to uplift understanding and responding, this session in Sydney was hosted by Accor Group and facilitated by Insight Exchange. The session involved 15 guests including Hotel Management, Food and Beverage and Guest Services.

September 2024 (Melbourne) | Building on the engagement of the hotel industry to uplift understanding and responding, this second session in Melbourne was initiated by Accor Group and facilitated by Insight Exchange. The session involved 12 guests from three parts of the Hotel Industry - Apartments and Realty, Hotel Management and Guest Services.

July 2024 (Melbourne) | The session, initiated by Accor Group and facilitated by Insight Exchange. The session involved 40 guests from the Hotel Industry. The guests included people working in three Hotel Groups, including roles in managed hotels, apartments and leases, sales and hospitality services and Qantas lounges, and peak body participation.