Security Expert Encourages Properties and Destinations to Audit Security.

(Dive Travel Business News - December 22, 2011) --The safety and security of a destination influences travelers' "go/no go" decision, and yet both government and the private sector leadership discount the importance of “law and order” as a factor in visitor arrivals. Philip Farina, an expert in global security issues as they impact on the hospitality, travel, and tourism industry, suggests the first steps in creating a safe environment for travelers.

According to Farina, founder and CEO of Farina and Associates, Ltd. and Antiterrorismcareers.com, hotel property and destination vulnerabilities are visible to a trained eye. Unfortunately, many tourism industry managers are not experienced in risk assessment and are reluctant to bring in the experts to conduct a security audit, leaving the hotel, (including staff and guests) at risk. Whether the property is at the top of the luxury ladder or offers back-packers a clean bed and shower, risk assessment is the first step towards developing a viable security audit and action plan to be implemented in the face of an emergency.

Before starting a risk assessment and security management program, hotel and security experts should:

1. Review the existing crime data in their locale to determine level of risk.
2. Conduct a risk assessment - including opportunities for civil, economic, natural, technical, secondary, and subsequent unrest.
3. Determine the quantity of the incidents, as well as the quality/type of criminal behavior.
4. Evaluate how the hotel staff has responded to on-premise disturbances – identifying the weakest link.
5. Identify who the first responders were (are these people the correct choices?)
6. How did the incident impact on the organization?
7. What were the losses (i.e., financial, public relations, time, and personnel)?
8. Finally, write a report detailing “lessons learned.”
9. Develop a strategic plan integrating “lessons learned.”
10. Develop a tactical plan to implement security procedures during emergencies.

Some important security points to consider in hotel security:

Conduct pre-employment screening and background investigations on all employees:
The unfortunate truth within any organisation is that a large percentage of incidents occur due to the actions or inactions of current employees. Within the human resources community there is a saying: "garbage in, garbage out". This means if you hire the wrong person who brings a questionable past onboard, there is a greater likelihood that problems and challenges can arise during their employment.

Implement a Company-wide Security Awareness Program:
Train staff to understand and assume their safety/security responsibilities. 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.

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

Electronics - Lock the Door:
Although some hotels still cling to the old-fashioned door key, Farina stresses the importance of electronic locks and deadbolts. He is not sure whether a growing interest in the use of cell phones to open hotel room doors provides the same level of safety, although they are gaining international acceptance.

OpenWays currently equips 4 billion cell phones in use around the world with a service that allows mobile users to proceed to check-in and hotel room access at a hotel by using their cell phones. OpenWays eliminates the need for the guest to stop and wait at the front desk upon arrival and reduces hotel operating expenses, because it eliminates additional personnel and manages messages such as “clean my room” or “do not disturb,” which are sent directly to the appropriate department (increasing guest safety). The system also eliminates the need for hotels to purchase, program, and dispose of plastic cards.

Surveillance:
Although hotels and destinations are focusing on the installation of additional CCTV cameras, “No amount of money will keep criminals away unless someone is watching the screens,” according to Farina. Casino surveillance is usually good, because the staff is constantly monitoring the cameras, but they are looking for more than just bad guys. “The more dedicated staff at casinos are likely to be concentrating on loss prevention,” while hotel security employees are often “called away from the CCTV screens to deal with immediate issues,” according to Farina. Surveillance videos offer value–added qualities, because they are excellent as a forensic tool and useful for incident review and bad-guy identification.

Strategic Alliance - Not Hotel Security Alone:
It is not realistic to look at private security without recognizing the important role of law enforcement. According to Farina, security errors may escalate if there is poor (or no) dialogue between private security and government law enforcement. If it is government policy to shut off power in the face of a terrorist attack, hotel security must know this operational plan in advance of an incident so that management can install back-up or alternate systems, enabling on-going communications between the guests, hotel management, and security during emergencies.

Emergency Evacuation Plan:
One area of growing concern, noted Farina, is emergency evacuation. Many hotels do not update their plans when they should. Emergency evacuation plans are proactive, working documents that should cover everything 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 employees, guests and vendors. The plan should cover who's going to be in charge, who is going to provide information, how the employees are going to respond and how the guests are going to be handled. These plans should be updated at least semi-annually or whenever there is a turnover in any position of upper management.

Business Continuity Plan (BCP)
Farina has found that even the high-end properties and major–league tourism destinations may miss designing a viable Business Continuity Plan by failing to devote enough time and resources to prepare for continuity. This is evident in disaster survival statistics:

1. Fires permanently close 44 percent of the business affected;
2. In the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, 150 businesses out of 350 affected failed to survive the event; however,
3. Firms affected by the September 11 attacks with well-developed and tested BCP manuals were operational in a few days.

To protect all assets (physical and fiscal), a security audit and business continuity plan in the after-math of an emergency are the building blocks for an efficient return to business. Failing to plan is to planning to fail.

Farina and Associates, Ltd. offers security and risk management services and products to clients across the hospitality spectrum with a portfolio of clients include: hotels and motels, restaurants and night clubs, golf courses and country clubs, wineries, spas, marinas and spaceport tourism facilities. Visit www.farina-associates.com.

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