Visible security could bring in extra business

Installing scanning devices at the entrances to hotels to screen guests and their luggage could bring in extra business, the International Hotel/Motel Show was told last week.

Eric Pfeffer, president of the International Hotel and Restaurant Association (IHRA), said that he had seen guests screened at hotels in Colombia and Turkey and he believed that more hotels should take up the practice.

He said: "It is a marketing opportunity. Companies that project security and offer a safe haven are going to have an edge."

Pfeffer, speaking at a seminar on economic recovery, said that safety and security were the primary threats to increasing business. He added: "Terrorism is obviously a big issue, but so is food security and regional security in places like India and Iraq."

But the IHRA president added that travellers needed to assess risk realistically. He explained: "You are much more likely to be killed crossing the street near your home than in a terrorist act."