Bali Promotion Center: Bali Hotel Association strives to Enhance Security and Surveillance Detection Capabilities Among Hospitality Workers

On May 18, 2011, Bali Hotels Association (BHA) conducted a workshop on surveillance detection held at the Intercontinental Bali Resort in Jimbaran, Bali.

"Prior to any attack, terrorists conduct surveillance," said Alexander Kesper, Senior Center for International Migration and Development (CIM) - Advisor to the Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Tourism and workshop lecturer. "During the surveillance phase, terrorists are most vulnerable to detection. So the aim of the workshop is to make it as hard as possible for terrorists to spy on us—to empower hotels to detect surveillance and to prevent them from becoming an easy target."

More than 130 workshop participants, representing almost 100 of Bali's star-rated hotels, learned about how to set up surveillance detection teams, discussed suspicious behavior and how to deal with it, as well as the special challenges of tropical hotel and resort environments. The workshop was also complemented by practical exercises.

The workshop's participants consisted of hotel representatives from different departments, and was not limited to only security managers. "Nowadays security is everybody's business," said Andrew Gall, BHA Security Director. "If we want to offer the highest standards—protection and resilience against any threat—we need to involve everybody, from room attendants to gardener to top management. What we promote is an integrated approach to security and safety."

The proceeds raised from the workshop will be used to purchase necessary equipment for Bali's 'Integrated Police Radio Community' (IPRC), a BHA supported initiative that connects businesses island-wide via VHF radio with the police and one another.

The workshop was part of a series of regular security and safety initiatives by Bali Hotels Association. The association aims to enhance the preparedness of the islands hotel industry to deal with any challenge and to boost and defend Bali's image as the world's best holiday island through.inculcating best practice.