Terrorist attacks on ‘soft targets’ such as restaurants, hotels and resorts in Paris, Mali and the Côte d’Ivoire are a stark reminder to the hospitality industry about the need for a regularly reviewed security policy, a business continuity plan and for well-trained staff.
In a recent Institute of Hospitality Insight article, academic and risk expert Alexandros Paraskevas highlighted four key areas in which hospitality organisations and their staff can build their baseline security and anti-terrorism measures.
The key points are:
Members of the Institute can access the full article in the February 2016 Insight e-Newsletter in our Publications section of the website.
In the meantime, managers can refer to helpful free resources like NaCTSO’s Stay Safe firearms and weapons attack training materials, which can help managers, staff and the public in learning how to survive a weapons attack. The materials describe what to do during an event to ensure the safety of oneself and others, how and when to alert authorities and how to get to safety.
Attacks on soft targets, like hotels, resorts and concert halls, show that managers in hospitality should continue their good practice when it comes to security but they should also revise their security to mitigate an attack with counter-surveillance and measures aimed at dealing with specific patterns of assault that include active shooters and hostage situations.
Alexandros Paraskevas is professor of strategic risk management and chair in hospitality management at the University of West London
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