Las Vegas Shooting Underscores Hotel Security Choices
- 7 years ago
Las Vegas Shooting Underscores Hotel Security Choices
As a result, said Jan D. Freitag, a senior vice president with STR, which tracks hotel
data worldwide, hotels are “a soft target — always have been and always will be.”
Katherine Lugar, chief executive of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, said in a statement
that “hotels have safety and security procedures in place that are regularly reviewed, tested and updated as are their emergency response procedures.”
The trade group “will continue to work with law enforcement to evaluate these measures,” she said.
That the shooter — Stephen Paddock — was able to take at least 17 firearms
and hundreds of rounds of ammunition up to a room starkly highlights the security priorities of hospitality companies: Wishing to appear inviting to guests, many hotels employ a lighter touch.
Explosives scanners and X-ray machines — standard equipment at airport terminals — will continue to be scarce in hotels because of the enormous premium
that customers place on their privacy, said Jim Stover, a senior vice president of the real estate and hospitality practice at the Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., an insurance brokerage.
Security at most hotels instead focuses on limiting theft, corralling unruly drunks
and ferreting out people wandering the halls without a room, said Mac Segal, a security consultant for an executive protection company, AS Solution.
Before a gunman killed more than 50 people in Las Vegas on Sunday, the police said he brought an arsenal of rifles past security
and up to his 32nd-floor room at the Mandalay Bay hotel.
As a result, said Jan D. Freitag, a senior vice president with STR, which tracks hotel
data worldwide, hotels are “a soft target — always have been and always will be.”
Katherine Lugar, chief executive of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, said in a statement
that “hotels have safety and security procedures in place that are regularly reviewed, tested and updated as are their emergency response procedures.”
The trade group “will continue to work with law enforcement to evaluate these measures,” she said.
That the shooter — Stephen Paddock — was able to take at least 17 firearms
and hundreds of rounds of ammunition up to a room starkly highlights the security priorities of hospitality companies: Wishing to appear inviting to guests, many hotels employ a lighter touch.
Explosives scanners and X-ray machines — standard equipment at airport terminals — will continue to be scarce in hotels because of the enormous premium
that customers place on their privacy, said Jim Stover, a senior vice president of the real estate and hospitality practice at the Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., an insurance brokerage.
Security at most hotels instead focuses on limiting theft, corralling unruly drunks
and ferreting out people wandering the halls without a room, said Mac Segal, a security consultant for an executive protection company, AS Solution.
Before a gunman killed more than 50 people in Las Vegas on Sunday, the police said he brought an arsenal of rifles past security
and up to his 32nd-floor room at the Mandalay Bay hotel.