In recent years, security has raced to the top of the agenda. Lee Jamieson considers whether the hotel industry is now ready for all eventualities

Today, the region’s hotels are facing new threats. The past decade has been an extraordinary period of change in everything from the wider political landscape to the evolving security needs of individual guests.

“Nowadays, hotel security has become a key priority in the Middle East,” explains Safir Hotels CEO Helmut Meckelburg. “Not only due to political instability in some regions, but also because we are attracting an increasing number of high-spending, high-profile tourists who demand a seamless luxury hotel experience without wanting to concern themselves with safety issues.”

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Potential new threats for hotels have arisen from a number of factors: the region is experiencing more traffic from a wider range of source markets, guests are travelling with expensive gadgets, terrorism has become an international concern and criminal activity is becoming increasingly more sophisticated.

“Increased tourism traffic in the region implies that an important financial contribution is being made,” says Safehotels Alliance CEO Hans Kanold. “It would therefore be very harmful to the region’s tourism industry if it does not provide acceptable security. It could be very damaging if a major incident occurred in the Middle East and hotels were not sufficiently prepared to handle it.

“It is simply a matter of confidence in the market. Good security measures can give a hotel a competitive advantage over its rivals.”

Aftermath of Dubai assassination

“Confidence in the market” has been seriously dented this year by a spate of high-profile security lapses including the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior Hamas leader, in a Dubai hotel earlier this year.

Video footage of the suspects was soon relayed around the world — and the UAE government and hoteliers have been quick to react, introducing measures designed to reinforce confidence for travellers.

“The government has imposed stricter guidelines since the incident and all hotels in the UAE have increased their spend on security as a result,” explains City Seasons Group managing director Thomas Tapken.

“We have made significant investment in our CCTV systems and installed bigger servers because hotels are now required to keep video surveillance footage for 180 days instead of the 90 days that we were initially storing.”

With most hotels in the region reporting major upgrades to their security systems and the surveillance technology they are using, security has found its way to the top of the hotelier’s agenda.

As a result, in May the Hotel Show reported that the UAE’s security spend after the Dubai assassination was on a multi-million dirham basis and installation companies experienced a 40% increase in business from hotels.

“The government is taking this issue very seriously and has recently mandated tougher security measures for hotels in the region, which has resulted in considerable investment in equipment,” explains Dusit Princess City Centre general manager Wolfi Malik.

“In recent years, it has become necessary to safeguard against terrorist incidents and criminal activity. We’ve had to upgrade our equipment and resources to do what we can to protect our guests because a traveller’s top priority is safety and security — in the hotel and at the destination. Terror threats and increased criminal activity means security in public places has become a critical concern.”

In the face of such a serious incident in Dubai, the industry, the police and the government have effectively pulled together to reassert confidence in the security measures deployed in the UAE’s travel and tourism sector.