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Even though it has been more than two years, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 still seem to define how hotel executives, consultants and vendors feel about safety and security. And even though safety is largely a given in today's hotels, with ever-smarter cards activating electronic locks, security - and its perception - remain worrisome. Some say security is as critical as it was at the time of the attacks. Others say, in effect, that the specter of terrorist attacks may be more of a marketing tool than a concern. Lodging properties are focusing on safety and security more than ever. Training is critical. Hotels should focus on their emergency preparedness and crisis management plans. Comments from hotel security professionals are presented.

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Even though it has been more than two years, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 still seem to define how hotel executives, consultants and vendors feel about safety and security. And even though safety is largely a given in today's hotels, with ever-smarter cards activating electronic locks, security -and its perception -remain worrisome.

There are differences in viewpoint, however. Some say security is as critical as it was at the time of the attacks. Others say, in effect, that the specter of terrorist attacks may be more of a marketing tool than a concern. The issue is a hot potato, for sure, regardless of the condition of the lodging safety and security business.

In any case, training in safety and security and consultation about a property's readiness are growth businesses in the wake of Sept. 11. What one lodging executive recently called a broadened sense of abnormality means properties are focusing on safety and security more than ever.

Business has always been good, says Thom Davis, president of Hospitality Risk Controls in Dublin, OH. But now it's better. "My business is up about 30 percent since 9-11," says Davis, who counts Cleveland-based Boykin Lodging Company, a REIT with a portfolio of about 30 hotels, among his key clients.

"We evaluate the security program: people, training, equipment, the physical property itself," Davis says. "We usually spend a day-and-a-half to two days on a security evaluation, and it's not unusual to go into anyone's full-service hotel and find 40 to 50 issues to talk about."

That's not cause for alarm, however. Fixing a problem is often a matter of tweaking, Davis says: Management might want to supplement training or add features in a particular area, like putting a lock on a door.

The key standard is reasonableness, Davis says. "Reasonable care is based on foreseeability," he says. "You need to know what your history is. We could say, why don't we just put three policemen on every floor of every hotel?"

That likely would reduce crime, but "the guest probably wouldn't tolerate the invasion of privacy," Davis says. "And what's going on in Dublin, OH is different from the Hyatt in the Arcade in Cleveland."

Training is critical. And the focus has changed.

In the 1980s, says Davis, lodging executives focused on fire safety following disastrous blazes at the MGM Grand and the Dupont Plaza. In the '90s, "many hotel companies went with electronic locks and security came to the forefront," he says. Basically, he suggests, major hotel companies had brought their security efforts to a higher level before the terrorist attacks.

"The major thing for hotels to do in response to 9-11 is promote awareness among their employees -like report anything unusual to their supervisor or the police," says Davis, who is security consultant to the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA). Sometimes, the presence of a uniformed security officer helps, "but I don't see us getting to the point where we go through metal detectors to get into a hotel."

In addition, hotels should focus on their emergency preparedness and crisis management plans. "I'd like to say every hotel has added 15 security people and has cameras everywhere," Davis says. "But that's not true and that's not needed."

BEYOND SEPT. 11

Helping put security into perspective is Bruce Humphrey, director of American operations for Miwa Lock Co. "I don't believe the biggest problem in the hotel market today is terrorists, instead, it's the same old problem," he says. "Sometimes, it's gangs and thieves targeting hotels, the same as it was before Sept. 11.

"Putting an additional door lock on or anything of that nature wouldn't have stopped that attack or any future attack."

Business has increased considerably since the attacks, Humphrey says. But he doesn't attribute that to the political atmosphere; as the "smaller of the bigger companies here, the only way for us to go is grow," he says.

Miwa aims to create and market products that work well and offer features a hotel wants, he says. It's currently pushing a "multimedia-operable" electronic lock that offers standard reports, staff counts, staff location and battery status.

"Its biggest feature is it's extremely reliable and easy to use," Humphrey says. Miwa plans to introduce a "proximity version" of its AL5H at the International Hotel, Motel & Restaurant Show in November. "There's always a way of putting a card in wrong," Humphrey says. "With a 'prox' card, it doesn't matter which way you hold it."

Versatility is one part of the technological envelope to push. Another is getting different facets of safety and security to talk to each other.

Hotel executives are eager for such interfacing, says Pascal Metivier, global vice president of sales and marketing for Onity. The example he gives is an alignment of closed circuit television (CCTV) surveillance with the back office. "At 10 p.m., someone rings the bell at the back of the house," Metivier says hypothetically. "It rings at the front desk on the CCTV monitor. Through the CCTV system, the front desk clerk can speak with the person at the door, visualize that person and validate or deny access."

Another example of heightened security is programming the CCTV system so it's "watching" a hotel pool in case someone is swimming after hours. The system can select the water area alone to project a "troubled" image so security can respond to the visual motion sensor and roust a kid who's in the pool too late.

Raising employee awareness of such back-of-house issues is indeed critical, says Glenn Peacock, director of marketing for Saflok. He provides a personal example:

"I'm a runner, and I frequently run around hotels in the early morning," he says. "Doors may be propped open, and two or three employees may be opening the door for each other. Sometimes, you may feel uncomfortable closing the door on a friend coming up a few hundred yards behind you in the parking lot.

"But if a facility is to track everyone coming in, everybody has to use their keycard, whatever medium it is-Smart Card, magnetic card or biometric."

Training is important. So is installing electronic, auditable security in back-of-house applications. "Adding 30 locks to a 1,000-room property isn't going to gain a salesman an award," Peacock says, "but it means we've done a better job in customer satisfaction and property security."

Now that the industry seems to be returning to stability, it's going back to basics, says Mats Gustafsson, president of ASSA ABLOY Hospitality. In addition, hotel executives are focusing on the needs of their specific property. That's why the owner of a 150-room property might not buy a system that allows wireless check-in, he suggests.

Luxury hotels, resorts and gaming properties still are willing to pay for "high technology," Gustafsson says, but the bottom line is the key concern.

"We're putting a Timelox infrared system in Bellagio, where having capabilities like being able to see from the front desk whether the door is ajar and being able to recode a card downstairs is great," he says. "But if I'm a Courtyard in Memphis, I probably don't need that."

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Because new construction is down, retrofitting is 75 percent of ASSA ABLOY's market now, he says. "The market is mature. If you look at the mid-1990s, we had a lot of chains and mandates to get electronic locks into hotels. That market is fulfilled now, and the system will last eight to ten years."

TARGETING SECURITY

Guestroom access is one thing, preparedness another. In Jimmy Chin's view, a hotel can't be prepared enough.

"A hotel isn't a target, but my hotel is surrounded by targets: Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Sony Corp. headquarters, a Disney Store," says the director of risk management for the Peninsula New York.

"If you're surrounded by targets, you have to protect yourself."

The five-diamond, four-star hotel at 55th Street and 5th Avenue caters to high-level corporate clients, celebrities and dignitaries, so security is key. "We have a lot of coordination with different security people," Chin says. "You want to reassure travelers that your hotel is safe and has certain procedures, training and other things so you can handle an emergency. Since 9-11, we have definitely pushed the marketing of security as an important tool for the hotel."

One might argue, as Miwa's Humphrey does, that terrorism isn't an immediate hotel threat; even Davis, the security consultant, notes that no domestic hotel has been the target of a terrorist attack.

One might also argue, like the Peninsula's Chin, that the perception of security is crucial.

"Security is still of utmost concern to travelers," says Chin, who's headed security at that luxury property for 11 years. "I think that clients today demand more security and become upset if by chance they're not asked for identification.

"If you come in after a certain hour in the evening, we're going to ask if you're a guest at the hotel and confirm that either by checking your name in the computer, or you're going to have to show your room key."

The Peninsula tries to keep its security invisible, but some "can't be hidden behind a counter," Chin says. "When you walk in after certain hours, a security officer will ask for your name. You can't blend that into the woodwork."

But some security isn't obvious, like the 3M security film on Peninsula guestroom windows. This film protects against bomb blasts or waves. "When there is a bomb blast, the secondary shrapnel is glass, which cuts you to ribbons," Chin says. This coating prevents windows from blowing out.

"There are some things people want to see," Chin says. "You put what's reasonable out there, so it doesn't scare them but makes them feel comfortable."

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