SAN DIEGO—“We need to understand that it is our duty as hoteliers to be responsible for the safety and well-being of our hotel staff and guests,” said Bob Rauch, CEO of RAR Hospitality. “It has to be our biggest priority every day. We have to remind ourselves—and maybe our guests—that their security and safety comes first.”
It is a rallying cry not heard often enough, according to Rauch, in the wake of recent acts of terrorism occurring in public venues in the U.S. and abroad. While the travel industry has proven its resiliency and ability to bounce back after a dangerous attack, don’t assume your hotel will be able to do the same. After the Paris attacks, hotel occupancy rates have dropped in the days following and continue to steadily decline.
“It’s one of the things we really need to think about as a hotel industry. After 9/11, all of us were really prepared. We met with Homeland Security and became well-equipped to handle a crisis, but that was almost 14 years ago,” said Rauch. “We have not been meeting with Homeland Security and we’ve taken our safety for granted a little too much.”
Any hotelier worth their salt has a standard ops playbook, but are you ready to weather a crisis? In a conversation with Hotel Business, Rauch outlines a few steps you can take now to get your emergency risk management and communications plan in order:
If You See Something, Say Something
In a more cautious world, it’s wise to train hotel employees to keep a watchful eye over the day-to-day operations and pay even closer attention to potentially dangerous activity in and around the hotel’s premises.
“Training staff is very important and so is guest awareness. Airports make announcements urging travelers to say something if you observe somebody who doesn’t appear to be in place,” Rauch said. “We have to engage everybody—our guests, employees and management team. They have to be diligent and acutely aware that things will happen and you can’t take that for granted anymore.”
Rauch’s employees are trained regularly in a variety of modalities such as first aid rescue breathing, sexual harassment and what to do in case of an emergency. “We discuss heightened awareness and make sure every delivery truck is ours. We make sure if something is foreseeable, if it is out of the ordinary and perceived as something that could go wrong, that a person doesn’t keep it to themselves,” he said.
Designate and Train a Spokesperson
Knowing what to say, exactly how to say it and when it should be said is crucial in an emergency. Rauch recommends identifying a spokesperson—make this decision well in advance of any crisis—who will be in touch with the media and law enforcement, as well as communicate with guests and staff at the property.
“When there’s a shooter a block away and your hotel is within range, you and your guests can’t go outside and they need that information in an instant. It’s all about powerful training and communication,” he said.
Activate Hotel Managers
Rauch stressed the importance of having actively engaged hotel managers who are on the scene and ready to act, as well as a need for hoteliers to have a willingness to learn through experience and on-the-job training.
“I think it comes down to training. The old-school GM understood all of this, but I’m not sure today’s managers have come up the ranks the way it was done in the past,” he said. “It’s not about age, but it’s about experience. I want every young manager to be exposed to these challenges and how to handle them. If they don’t know how important it is to take charge in keeping people calm and aware, they haven’t been through it. I don’t know how good you’d be in a crisis if you haven’t had one.”
Use Available Tools
You don’t have to be a phenomenal hotelier with a huge management company to run a successful hotel, according to Rauch, as every one of the hotel brands provides this type of guidance. You just have to be willing to use the tools available to you.
“A crisis emergency handbook is hopefully at the front desk of every hotel in the U.S., detailing step-by-step what to do in case of an emergency. The only hotels that don’t have that information are ones that are not professionally managed,” he said. “You can’t just glance at the book and put it on your front desk. The information is there, if you need it.”
— Corris Little