Minneapolis - May 22, 2014 - Trudy Rautio, president and CEO of Carlson – a global hospitality and travel company – joined a select group of CEOs asked to meet with President Barack Obama on the second anniversary of his National Travel & Tourism Strategy.
The travel and tourism industry supports nearly 15 million jobs in the U.S. and is one of the nation's largest employers, creating 1 out of every 9 jobs.
"To achieve our goal of attracting 100 million international visitors by 2021, we need well-trained employees who can find ladders of opportunity within our growing hospitality and travel industry," Rautio said after the meeting.
Rautio, who also serves on the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, personally thanked President Obama for his workforce development and job-skills agenda. The President recently announced $450 million in new Department of Labor grants under the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training initiative.
"As Marilyn Carlson Nelson has long said, 'the greatest form of philanthropy is a good job' -- and hospitality is an industry where you can quickly work your way up into a well-paying position in professional management," said Rautio. "Jobs in our industry can pull people up and out of poverty and provide opportunities to grow the middle class."
Carlson's other philanthropic focus area is the eradication of human trafficking, which is today's modern day slavery. As a global hotel company, Carlson is proud to be an industry leader in preventing human trafficking and the exploitation of women and children in our hotels.
Rautio also asked President Obama to continue the administration's efforts to eradicate trafficking. In 2013, Carlson received the inaugural Presidential Award for Extraordinary Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons.
Carlson is a global hospitality and travel company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group includes more than 1,340 hotels in operation and development, including Quorvus Collection, Radisson Blu®, Radisson®, Radisson Red, Park Plaza®; Park Inn® by Radisson and Country Inns & Suites By CarlsonSM; more than 930 TGI Fridays® restaurants; and a majority stake in Carlson Wagonlit Travel®, the global leader in business travel management. Carlson operates in more than 150 countries and territories and its brands employ more than 178,000 people. http://www.carlson.com.
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Ben Gardeen
Carlson
+1 (763) 212-8129
bgardeen@carlson.com
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group is one of the world's largest and most dynamic hotel groups.