Is 'Mumbai spirit' enough?

zoom

At 105 years old, the Taj Mahal was built at a time when terror attacks were as fictional as air travel.

HME's sister publication Hotelier India assesses what it will take to get the Indian hotel and tourism industry back on its feet following the horrific Mumbai terrorism attacks in November.

In September it was the Marriott in Islamabad and in November, the Taj Mahal and the Oberoi in Mumbai, India.

These mindless acts of terrorism have added to the woes of the Indian Subcontinent's travel and tourism industry, which is already suffering the effects of the global economic crisis.

And more doom and gloom is forecast before the clouds clear and the industry gets back on its feet.

Big names such as ITC Welcomgroup chief executive Nakul Anand, Thomas Cook India non-executive chairman Udayan Bose and AFL chairman and managing director Cyrus Guzder have publicly expressed depressing prognoses for the coming 12 months.

However, as the recent solidarity march undertaken by members of the industry from the Oberoi to the Taj in the wake of the attacks shows, there is plenty of grit and spirit left in our people to ensure the financial damage is minimised.

So should hotels now prioritise security above guest comfort? Or is there still a call for a balance?

"The very nature of the hotel business, welcoming complete strangers in to an enclosed environment, is anathema to anybody with the slightest sense of security," wrote Kroll Consulting Services managing director Richard Dailly in his guest column for Hotelier India in October this year.

He now argues that this needs to change if travellers are to be reassured of their safety in India. After the Islamabad Marriott was devastated three months ago, all the premium hotels in Mumbai had a sense of the risk they faced and had already beefed up their security measures.

However, while doing so, the older hotels such as the Taj and Oberoi had to consider their iconic yet somewhat security-averse design. Could this have been a factor in their fate?

The Oberoi, built in the seventies at the dawn of the terror era, has a raised, but essentially unguarded foyer leading in directly from the road.

The Taj Mahal is 105 years old, built in a time when terror attacks like this were as far-fetched as air travel. Its main entrance is also directly on the road, overlooking another iconic Mumbai landmark - the Gateway of India. Both hotels have multiple entrances.

The Taj was aware it was a possible target for some time, but in response the most it could do was cordon off its portico to cars with wooden boxes and make guests walk through a metal detector 25 yards to its main entrance.

"If I look at what we had, it could not have stopped what took place," Tata chairman, Ratan Tata admitted after the attacks.

The Oberoi also took some early measures. Chairman PRS Oberoi issued a circular a few months earlier instructing his hotels to increase the number of surveillance cameras in the foyer and surrounding areas and his staff to be more vigilant. However, he insists that the Oberoi Mumbai did not know it was on anyone's hit list. Does intelligence therefore need to be improved too?

Safe not sorry

It is the nature of the hospitality business that makes hotels and restaurants so vulnerable. Those that were able introduced additional security steps against the constant fear of angering guests.

The JW Marriott in Mumbai for example has installed a three level system: an X-ray scanner for all guest bags, large or small, in additional to a detailed car check at the gate and a metal detector frame at the lobby entrance. Guests, initially reluctant, have come to accept this and since the Islamabad attacks, even appreciate it.

Print | Email | Discuss this article

| Share |

READERS' COMMENTS

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Arabian Business would like to point out that only comments relevant to the story will be published. Any containing personal insults or inappropriate language will not be approved.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Enter the words above *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM