Hotels Get A Wake Up Call
A security advisor contracted by the hotel industry and other private organizations told CBS News Thursday morning that major international hotel chains are rushing to reassess their security plans after the Mumbai attack.
"There's a real fear in the hotel business that there could be a copy-cat attack somewhere else in the world," said the security consultant, who is based in London.
He said security proposals made previously to international hotel chains, but were dismissed because of cost, are now back on the table. Because he is working with several large chains at present, he didn't want to speak on the record or give information as to which hotels, in which countries, were considering tighter security.
One solution that may be seen (or not seen, hopefully) in hotels near you is the use of retractable glass walls to cut off public areas from private areas.
The walls, similar to emergency partitions used by banks, would be moved into place automatically if a hotel went into security alert.
The advisor, who served in a special forces unit in a Western country's military, called the Mumbai hotel attack a "nightmare scenario" for even the best-trained anti-terror forces.
"There are two nightmare scenarios — terrorists taking over a hotel, or a cruise liner. The problem is enormous. You need teams to go room-to-room, floor-by-floor or deck-by-deck, it takes time."
Scores of people were killed inside Mumbai's 5-star Taj Mahal hotel last week by a relatively small group of well-armed gunmen who managed to take the 500-plus room complex completely under their control for almost three days.
The hotel industry has had its wake up call.
