Hotels in Goa will now click a picture of every guest at the reception counter who checks into the hotel for record purposes. This initiative has been undertaken after a recent advisory was issued to all hotels by the Goa police. 

The advisory also insists that hotels should not entertain ‘walk-in guests’ (without reference or pre-bookings) and allow visitors for hotel guests no further than the reception. “Visitors wanting to meet guests should not be allowed to go to the guest\'s room but the guest should be asked to meet the visitor in the lobby/reception itself. All visitors must be given a visitor pass,” mentions the advisory. 

“The security environment in the present scenario demands a high level of alertness and proactive stance. We believe that these safety and security precautions will not pose any major inconvenience to hotel guests. Moreover, the security payoffs will outweigh the minor inconvenience to the guest,” said a senior police officer. 

The advisory was discussed during a meeting called by the police with the hotel and tourism industry last week and agreed upon by those present. At the meeting, Ravindra Yadav, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Goa emphasised on the need to ensure security of tourists and hotels and guest houses to prevent any untoward incidents in the state and to safeguard tourists. 

Yadav reiterated on the need to hire armed guards for security at hotels and said that so far nothing has been done in this connection. He also informed that 50 additional Police Control Room (PCR) vehicles will soon be inducted in Goa which will increase the police presence at strategic locations. 

Hotels in the state will have to upgrade and increase their security staff for physical checking of persons, following the advisory from the police. Stating that, ‘stepping up patrolling can be an effective deterrent to criminals,’ it suggests that hotel security guards in plainclothes must be deployed on each hotel floor. Hotels have also been asked to reduce the number of access points to two or three, besides installing hydraulic operated road barriers or retractable bollards at entry gates to stop vehicles coming at high speed. To reduce the number of people with a criminal background working in hotels, the police have advised managements to ensure re-verification and cross-checking of hotel staff. 

The advisory also states that all employees should wear identity cards and their bio data should have proper references, which must be verified. Temporary staff should be hired from reputed contractors who maintain up-to date databases. Further, if the hotel can be accessed from the beach then managements should erect watchtowers so that security personnel get a view from a vantage point. Hotels should build up intelligence networking to draw information from internal, as well as external segments of the hotel.