Hotels Association organises security seminars for hotels
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Mr. Sanath Ukwatte
The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL), in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday bombings in three churches and three luxury hotels, is organising a series of discussions aimed at strengthening security in hotels and meet current security challenges.
The first in this series was organised on “Counter Terrorism Security for Hotels” and held at the Kingsbury Hotel on June 9.
THASL President Sanath Ukwatte welcomed the gathering of over 150 hoteliers and stated that “hotels should strengthen their security protocols and carry out continuous training of staff and maintain security at an optimum level to protect hotel staff, guests and property”.
“The event started with a very thought provoking and useful presentation from the well-known security specialist Dr. Rohan Gunaratna. Dr Gunaratne is a professor of security studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and coauthor of ‘The Three Pillars of Radicalisation: Needs, Narratives, and Networks,” Oxford University Press,’ the association said in a media release.
He emphasised that security training should not be limited to security personnel of a hotel but that all staff should be trained and most importantly all staff should be trained to be vigilant and to be able to spot odd behaviour. A waiter may be able to pick up odd behaviour of a guest more accurately than a security officer as they are accustomed to certain behavioural patterns and can spot unusual behaviour.
Head of Security for the Galle Face Hotel Group, retired Major General Arundika Perera and Head of Security at the Cinnamon Grand Clifford Amunugama spoke to the audience on best security practices for hotels.
Another seminar was held on June 19 in collaboration with the British High Commission and the Metropolitan Police of the UK at Taj Samudra. “THASL is committed to guest safety and having effective security procedures in hotels, introducing new technologies and to educate its members to have systems implementing anti-terrorism procedures,” the release said.