Colonel SM Kumar, head, Special Intervention Group, Mahindra Special Services Group
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The recent terror attacks on hotels display the vulnerability the industry faces today. The safety and security of guests have become a paramount task for hoteliers, who are faced with challenges to not only make their place safe, but also hospitable to stay in. The urgent need to upgrade security systems has also added substantially to a hotelier’s capital expenditure. Though most hoteliers accept that there can’t be any cost-cutting in security, the biggest challenge for them is to find a middle way that balances out both the critical aspects— security and cost.
One needs to have a holistic approach towards security rather than just buying all the latest equipments The best way to reduce costs is by involving a professional security consultant from the designing stage itself, who will help assess your threat perceptions, and plan accordingly.
“There is a need to look at hotel security comprehensively and not as a knee jerk reaction.
Today the security market is vendor driven; this pushes up costs without actually adding value or providing credible security,” says Colonel Naresh Shekhawat, a security expert. Each property first needs to draw up a security plan based upon the threat perceptions, ground factors like layout, the size of the property, the number of ingress and egress points, footfalls, movement pattern, sensitivity of visitors, vulnerabilities and existing set up, which will dictate the way ahead, adds Shekhawat.
Ramesh Iyer, executive director, Top Security, also agrees that the security planning should start preferably at the design and architecture stage of the hotel itself. “Careful thought should be given to glass panes used in the building, location of parking lots, designing of the entry and exit points, and the type and thickness of the walls”. He says it is important to have a good building management system which will centrally control the access, fire alarm, and intrusion systems, utilities like the electrical and air conditioning. The security process should be properly designed in such a way that access is limited to only those people who need to be in a particular area.
Pramoda Karkal, vice president and managing director, India, Building Efficiency, Johnson Controls thinks one can aspire to be 100% secure, but success comes only if you have a holistic approach to security. Effective building design, trained physical response, and effective state back up are requisites to achieve optimum security.
“Hoteliers, like all businesses, are looking at safety and security as critical business needs, more so after 26/11. Value is the watchword. It is important for hotels to guarantee the safety and security of its guests. Considering the financial bottle necks, hotels can consider implementing security solutions in a scalable manner over a given time frame,” adds Karkal.
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