Security Becomes Top Priority For Hotels

NATIONAL REPORT— The issue of hotel security on several fronts has become hotter than ever before in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, and experts affirm that the topic must become a permanent, top-level priority for properties. Hilton Hotels Corp. said that following the incidents, it is requiring its guests to show a photo ID when checking in. Officials at the hotel conglomerate also suggest that at this point, guests should check in at the front desk rather than via mobile check-in service. Starwood Hotels and Resorts, similarly says that it immediately stepped up security at its properties as well as at its hotel parking garages following the attacks. Hotel owner/management firm Lodgian reports that it had just completed an update to its own internal crisis management program prior to the attacks but is now adding new sections to it, said CEO Tom Arasi. “It’s not the traditional kind of security concern, it’s totally untraditional, it’s more of the big picture “State” kind of security,” said Arasi. Part of Lodgian’s efforts include heightening its property employees’ awareness of communication and speed of interaction with fire department officials, police and emergency workers, said Arasi. “We are making sure that people are updated on their emergency communications, that they will quickly know who to get in contact with and make sure that our reaction time will be razor sharp.” Industry veteran Arasi noted that the security efforts going on at Lodgian right now are “more than I have seen in my career.” Chekitan Dev, Ph.D., associate professor of strategic marketing, Cornell Hotel School advises that security must now play a more integral role in a hotel’s operations. “Security in general has always been an ancillary department to hotel operations, it often gets outsourced,” said Dev. “It’s time for security to be integrated into the mainstream of the hotel as much as almost any other department. Which means, in tactical terms, getting the chief security officer to be part of the executive team, and making sure that all employees recognize security now becomes everybody’s business. As a result, security issues should be a significant component to employee training across the board, said Dev. “All employees need to be the eyes and ears of the hotel, it’s not just the security department. So recognizing that security is an integral part of the operation becomes key,” he added. Hotels may be eyeing security measures from another front; that of screening employees to get a stronger sense of their backgrounds before hiring them. Barry J. Nadell, president/CEO InfoLink Screening, which has about 100 hotels as clients, said since the attacks the has been getting calls from existing clients who are realizing they should be doing employee background checks based on FAA requirements, “which are more stringent,” he said. Nadell said people are asking him whether it’s possible to identify a potential terrorist during the screening process. While that’s not necessarily possible, he said, something may pop up during the procedure that raises a red flag of some sort. “Generally you will find something in their background that is not quite right, it could be a number of “DUIs”, or repeated failures to appear in court. If you fail to do a background check that might not show up,” he said. If a potential employee has lied in anyway during the hiring process, “that indicates something in their character and you shouldn’t hire them,” he said. Hotels in general need to do more background checks, said Nadell, who said typically, managers are screened, but hotels “don’t do checks on everyone who has keys to the rooms, and they should.”