New Trends in Travel Security

Hotels: Government–Hotel Cooperation

One of the major lessons of Mumbai: any hotel concerned with security should have its floor plans on file with the local fire department. Already standard in New York and other U.S. cities, this procedure is predicted to become commonplace at high-end hotels worldwide. (It’s one of the most important booking conditions in the new Traveler Safety Recommendations guide, compiled by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives.) Beyond that, more hotels in hot zones are turning to private crisis- and risk-management companies, which supply intelligence on countries and regions and facilitate communication with government or law-enforcement officials. This can be mutually beneficial: John O’Sullivan, general manager of the Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay and Sayan resorts in Bali, credits the crucial tourist economy as one of the key factors behind local authorities’ “solid commitment” to exchanging intelligence with his properties (and, he says, most of the others on the island) since the 2002 and 2005 bombings there.