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Hotel Security: Evolving Security ThreatsPosted By Hotel Industry Magazine On June 13, 2011 @ 11:44 am In Featured,Hotel IndustryTrends,Hotel News,Hotel Security,Interviews | No Comments

Ensuring the safety of your guests is of paramount importance and it is essential to haverobust hotel security measures in place.

With threats evolving, we turn to Farina and Associates hotel security expert, PhilipFarina, for up-to-date advice.

Hotel-industry.co.uk: What are the key security threats that UK hotelierscurrently face?

Farina: It’s important to realise that UK hospitality organizations are exposed to various levels ofman-made and natural risk. This may include: fire, weather, food poisoning and tampering, fraud,data theft and of course, the terrorism element, to name a few. An event against just one hotelproperty could send catastrophic ripple effects throughout our entire industry.

Hotel-industry.co.uk: Has the nature of threats changed in recent years?

Farina: Yes, the use of technology, has greatly impacted how criminals can target hotels. Forinstance, instead of visiting a hotel to collect many pieces of information, a criminal can now scan theInternet pulling up specifics about room numbers, location to other areas of interest, the leadershipteam and photos of critical areas in the property. Using applications like Google Earth, a criminal candiagram the structure and their escape routes.

Hotel-industry.co.uk: Do hoteliers often overlook the full impact of securitythreats?

Farina: Absolutely. Security in most hotels is falling way behind the curve ball when compared tomany other industries. Due to the complexity of operations in running a successful hotel and thepossibility of reputation damage, many potential risks and actual incidents are kept quiet and gounreported.

History has shown us that when an incident occurs at our hotel or resort and we have simply reactedor not properly prepared for it; the opportunity for catastrophic loss is greatly increased. These lossescan include injuries and death as well as property, community and reputation damage. Securitywithin hospitality is not cut and dry. An organisation that decides to install a few video cameras andadd a security gate after an incident, is merely throwing money into an ever-growing fire.

Hotel-industry.co.uk: Why is it important for hoteliers to partner withthird-party companies and suppliers to improve hotel security?

Farina: Hoteliers should consider the utilisation of board-certified security consultants and vendors asthey will have critical security insight about your property. Let’s face it, even the best employeesecurity teams can become complacent and may only be able to view security from the inside out.While this has some benefit, it pales in comparison to a vendor who is experienced in hoteloperations and qualified to analyse your property from the outside in or through the eyes of whatwould be a potential criminal.

The challenge for hotels is finding a vendor or consultant who can balance security and antiterrorismwith customer service and convenience. Security in itself is black and white; hospitality on the otherhand is an “open” environment and full of colour. Although this represents a challenging environment,only by blending these methodologies together effectively, can the organisation be successful inproviding this heightened level of service to its employees and customers.

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Hotel-industry.co.uk: What steps can hoteliers take immediately to improvetheir hotel security?

Conducting pre-employment screening checks and background investigations on allof their employees:The unfortunate truth within any organisation is that a large percentage of incidents occur dueto the actions or inactions of current employees. Within the human resources community thereis a saying: “garbage in, garbage out”. This means if you hire the wrong person who brings aquestionable past onboard, there is a greater likelihood that problems and challenges can ariseduring their employment.

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Implementing Company-Wide Security Awareness programs:This empowers all of the employees (not just the security or loss prevention departments)within the company to become proactive and take part in the security of the hotel or resort.

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The 10-5 Rule:This procedure is taught to new employees through their orientation and existing employeesthrough ongoing training. At 10 feet away, an employee makes eye contact with a guest andsmiles. The employee then closes the distance and at 5 feet away, the employee engages theguest through conversation, offering to assist them or provide an answer. The last thing that acriminal desires is to be noticed and engaged by not one, but many employees. It can easilyget criminals to re-think their choosing your hotel as a target. The Benefits: It provides theguest with a greater experience by showing true customer service at the time, increases thelevel of security at your property.

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The Creation or Revision of an Emergency and Evacuation Plan:Emergency and evacuation plans are proactive, working documents that should covereverything from a fire or natural disaster to the threat of an active shooter or terrorism event.They are designed to provide the safest avenue for the protection of your employees, guestsand vendors. These plans should be updated at least semi-annually or whenever there is aturnover in any position of upper management.

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