HOTEL SECURITY PLAN

Hotel Security Plan



Hotel Security Plan

Introduction

Hotels often call themselves the 'home away from home'. It is the responsibility of all hoteliers to ensure that there is no compromise with safety and security of the guests in the hotel. Due to recent terrorists attacks, safety and security are constantly high on the agenda of hoteliers and guests. This is not surprising as safety and security are key considerations when making decisions to travel. They are critical success factors for a tourist destination. As such, hoteliers and everyone involved in the tourism industry need to work together in reassuring guests and restoring the general public's confidence in the travel industry. Although safety and security are commonly used interchangeably, the two concepts differ in their focus. Safety involves protecting employees and guests within the hotel property from potential injury or death. Safety issues deal with effects of accidents, hazardous materials and fire. Security goes beyond protecting employees and guests and is concerned with preserving guests' possessions and the property. Security issues include matters such as theft and violent crime. Safety can be treated as a form of security that focuses on the protection of guests from injuries.

Hotel Security Plan

Security

Security has always been a concern for hotels worldwide. The recent increase in terrorist acts has had its toll on travel and tourism worldwide. Whilst there is no indication that hotels are a primary target for the perpetration of terrorist acts, hoteliers must ensure that their properties are secure - if anything to give a sense of security to guests and staff whilst at the same time protecting their investment. There are two types of security threats hotels should be concerned with:

1. Threats that might affect a guest's health, comfort or wellbeing.

2. Threats that affect the hotel directly, in particular its fixtures and fittings, its revenue and its reputation.

Protecting Guests

Fire

One of the major threats is that of fire. Although we have not had loss of life in hotels in Malta (perhaps as a result of our methods of construction and the absence of wall to wall carpeting) hotels here are also bound by law to take the necessary fire safety precautions. A front office manager is duty bound to ensure that he is satisfied with a hotel's -

· fire detection systems

· fire containment provisions

· escape procedures

· fire-fighting equipment

Terrorist threats

This has been dealt with in a previous module, and includes bomb threats. There is little, if anything, a front office manager and his staff may do if there is some kind of assassination attempt for instance. However, bomb threats are received by someone at the front line - a telephonist or a front office clerk - and a procedure must be in place to ensure that all the information that can be taken about the nature of the threat is in fact recorded.

Threats to privacy

It is the duty of front office to protect the privacy of its guests - even and perhaps especially if they are in the public ...