Mumbai Attacks Spur Buyer, Hotelier Security Reassessments

Last week's Mumbai terrorist attacks, which included assaults on luxury hotels, prompted travel buyers to reassess their international hotel programs and other hotel properties to review their own safety and security infrastructures.

According to an Association of Corporate Travel Executives survey of 134 travel managers released late yesterday, 78 percent plan to review their hotel contracts with an increased emphasis on security and guest safety. Of that group, half said the extent of the review would depend on region and 28 percent said it would be for their entire program.

Meanwhile, IJet Intelligent Risk Systems next week is sending six analysts to India to conduct emergency safety and security audits for more than 50 hotel property clients, according to IJet president Bruce McIndoe. "The hoteliers are taking this seriously and making sure they're hotels are living up to the appropriate safety and security standards, " he said.

In last week's attacks, "The security of that hotel was largely a façade," said McIndoe. "They had security at the front of the house, but they left the backside exposed. Hoteliers want to make sure that is not happening in their properties."

Nearly one-third of the ACTE survey respondents said in their future hotel program security assessments they will be targeting more detailed coordination from the hotels with local authorities, including security assistance training, backup communications and better surveillance systems.

McIndoe warns corporations not to ignore basic safety and security standards for the international hotel review processes. "We have to remember that fire and crime and to some degree food and water safety are still the things that are going to impact their travelers, not some one in 10 million terrorist event," he said. " It should get back to the basics by making sure hotels have basic safety and security capabilities and now that we are in a little bit higher threat environment in India to see what measures the hotels are taking to step it up."

The Mumbai terror incident occurred in a primary business center and in response corporations tend to migrate their travelers to properties outside of commercial zones following such attacks, which is not a best practice, McIndoe said. "Terrorism is like one in 10 million," he said. "Dying on India's roads is like a one in 22,000 chance of dying. The more you are putting your employees on the road having to commute from the hotel to the place where they are working is actually putting them in substantially more risk."

For the time being, 48 percent of the survey respondents said they are curtailing travel to India. Seven percent are doing so indefinitely. Like with most isolated travel safety and security incidents, the business travel decline will not last long, said PhocusWright senior director of research Ram Badrinathan from Mumbai today. "The impact will weigh much more heavily on leisure travel than business travel," he said. "I don't see the long-term impact of it being really significant. Looking at past history with SARS and 9/11, the first people who come back are the business travelers."