Building on decades of investments in safety and security and in coordination with security experts, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and the major hotel brands in membership announced the 5-Star Promise, a pledge to provide hotel employees across the U.S. with employee safety devices (ESDs) and commit to enhanced policies, trainings, and resources that together are aimed at enhancing hotel safety, including preventing and responding to sexual harassment and assault.
Deployment of ESDs is already underway. Hotel companies in several markets, including New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, and Seattle, already provide ESDs to employees, and they are piloting devices in many other markets. Today’s announcement broadens this commitment to hotels across the country, with the goal of broad implementation by 2020.
Participating brands or properties will determine the best security devices based on the property’s layout and features, with a range of options including devices with loud noise-emitting features or emergency GPS tracking at the push of a handheld button. AHLA has convened a sourcing task force to assist companies in identifying the appropriate technology for their respective properties.
This approach reflects the segmented and diverse nature of the hotel industry, ranging from large urban hotels to small rural roadside inns to mixed-use properties that combine hotels, apartments, condos, retail, and restaurants. In addition, there are considerable structural differences in building design and layout, construction materials, and Wi-Fi network capabilities within the industry. •
For more information about the AH&LA’s 5-Star Promise, visit www.ahla.com/5star.
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