The Next Big One: Is the Hotel Industry Prepared?

By Steve Cody, Managing Partner, Peppercom -- HOTELS Magazine, 12/1/2005

The recent terrorist bombings of three American hotel chains in Jordan underscore the need for hotels to be better prepared for both traditional and post 9/11-type crises.

Addressing the unimaginable can be a daunting assignment to be sure. Still, I wonder if most corporate executives of the major hotel chains are really asking themselves if they are properly prepared for “the next big one.” 

Last year, we co-sponsored a survey with Continuity Insights magazine to determine the readiness of its Fortune 500 risk manager readership. While nearly everyone said they had a crisis plan in place, an alarming 60 percent had never actually simulated an incident. According to sources we’ve spoken with, most hotels would not simulate a crisis unless required to do so by the authorities. That’s a sobering thought. Why wouldn’t hotel executives worry about the continuity of their business, their reputation for safety and the risk of losing human lives?

Should a disaster occur, these business continuity managers and their hotel executive counterparts might find themselves starring in a private sector version of U.S. FEMA Director Michael Brown’s post Hurricane Katrina Twilight Zone, denying any advance knowledge and not knowing how best to respond to the unfolding crisis.

Hotel executives need to conduct crisis simulation exercises where they put their crisis plans to the test. These simulations not only assess physical security but, critically, how well the organization would communicate with each and every one of its constituent audiences as the hypothetical crisis unfolds and escalates.

According to John Braschi, product director in commercial insurance/hospitality industry of Fireman’s Fund Insurance Agency, in order to simulate, test and prepare for a worst-case scenario, hotel management should make a disaster preparedness checklist. Included in the checklist are physical items such as supplier arrangements, tested generators, photos of the hotel before and after the disaster for insurance purposes, and an inventory of protected public rooms (that have no windows and are above flood level) for the use of guests in need of shelter. It is also important to have a facility to use as a virtual office—a place for hotel executives to respond to reservations, conduct hotel business and respond to public relations needs during a disaster.

Smart, swift and consistent communications are just as vital to the disaster preparedness plan. Hotels need to have one key spokesperson in charge, working closely with the state and local authorities, and relaying one clear, concise and consistent message to all key stakeholders.

Executives are slowly waking up to the need for preparedness and calling for comprehensive changes to be made. Now is the time to press the companies for whom we work to prepare for the inevitable. As we found out with 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the terrorist acts against the hotels in Jordan, excuses no longer cut it.

Steve Cody is managing partner and co-founder of Peppercom, a strategic communications firm specializing in crisis planning and management. Cody can be reached at scody@peppercom.com.