By Grantlee Kieza, Industry Reporter
When thieves broke into the grounds of a plush Noosaville resort in Queensland earlier this year, manager Sue Barden took steps immediately to ensure it never happened again. “Right away, we installed more CCTV security cameras and signage warning that public areas were under surveillance,” she said. “It was only a minor robbery, but we don’t want any more. Some young people climbed over a gate and took some bikes from a public area. But we made sure straight away that it wouldn’t happen again. “As it was the whole incident was captured on the cameras we did have, and it was like watching an episode of Funniest Home Videos. The young intruders started throwing thongs over the gate to test its height and the thongs were falling back onto their heads.
Sue has managed the Verano Resort at Noosaville for two years with husband Geoff, after seven years running the Seaforth At Trinity Holiday Accommodation property outside Cairns. She said the nature of hotel security equipment had changed dramatically over recent years. “When we first started at Trinity Beach guests didn’t even like the idea of the pool area having cameras around, but hotels need to make their properties as secure as possible and we are living in different times. “Hotel security has come a long way in recent years. Cameras are much more sophisticated than ever.” Security at hotels and resorts involves such things as securing perimeters, controlling access to restricted areas, and allowing guests to safely check-in after hours. Managers are using increasingly sophisticated
access controls including CCTV cameras, boom gates, intercoms and wi-fi locks. The sophistication of the latest cameras makes them much more user friendly and they can be set up remotely to record with a quality that was unheard of only a few years ago. Michael Johnson, the CEO of Tourism Accommodation Australia, said CCTV footage was also useful in dealing with disturbances arising during the COVID-19 crisis, with Victoria's Hotel Quarantine Inquiry hearing that in June security guards at Melbourne’s Crown Metropol were pelted with fruit and a chair and that another guest ran from her room and attacked a nurse before police intervened. “In the current COVID-19 environment security cameras have even helped to screen guests for illness,” Johnson said. “I was in a hotel recently and
©Brian Jackson - stock.adobe.com
Putting hotel security in focus when you walked through the front doors what looked like a CCTV camera was effectively a piece of technology that took your temperature as you entered the hotel, yet another way to keep guests secure.” Johnson said licensing requirements in much of Australia now required hotels and resorts to have CCTV cameras operating where alcohol was served. “We’ve seen hotels throughout Australia upgrade their CCTV cameras and they are required to keep footage for at least 28 days,” Johnson said. “That is a major boost to hotel safety. “The price of the CCTV systems has come down dramatically, so it is pretty affordable for most hotels and resorts to have good camera systems right around their property.” He said the boom in security technology extended to hotel locks, which were often now high-tech pieces of equipment.
“The bikes were recovered very quickly after we gave the footage to the police.
“Only a few years ago, a hotel key was a metal thing that you put into a metal lock and turned,” he said.
“Every part of the grounds here is now covered by cameras and we think that together with the warning signage we have the best possible defence against unwelcome visitors coming onto the property.”
“Now in most hotels when you tap on a door lock with your access key the front desk immediately knows that you have entered the room because the keys are interfaced back to property management systems.
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AccomNews - Spring 2020
SAFETY & SECURITY
www.accomnews.com.au
