How to Travel Safe and Enjoy Your Trip

Security expert Chris Grniet, vice president of Kroll Security Group, shares simple steps travelers can take to ensure a safe and enjoyable trip, from basic travel preparations to hotel and airport security measures.

Chris Grniet bases his advice on more than 24 years spent advising corporate clients on how best to protect their sites and constituents from security risks.

Written by Chris Grniet

The Basics

1.        Research your destination of choice. The risk level associated with any given destination changes daily. Just think about Mexico following the swine flu outbreak or Mumbai following the hotel bombing in 2008, both of which drastically changed the health and safety risks associated with those locations in days alone. Eliminate the guesswork by consulting the U.S. Department of State’s Web site at http://travel.state.gov/ to keep apprised of the current conditions and warnings associated with your desired destination.

2.        Consider registering with a travel assistance service, such as Kroll partner iJet Travel Intelligence, which offers a variety of features that help travelers feel at ease while on the road and ensure that assistance is only a phone call away no matter where you are traveling. Offerings include itinerary tracking, which enables the immediate location of travelers and comprehensive pre-trip briefs, which cover the safety and security levels associated with any given location.

3.        Keep the emergency contact number for your local embassy handy at all times. You never know when you might need assistance. For example, if you lose any of your vital paperwork, including your visa or passport, your local embassy will be able to help you get replacements in short order.

4.        Make copies of valuable documents, including passport, driver’s license and credit cards, in case your originals are lost or stolen. Store these copies in the safe at your hotel and/or consider leaving copies with someone you trust at home so that they can be easily accessed in case of emergency.

5.        Store emergency cash in your hotel safe, so that you are not stranded in the event that your wallet (including credit and debit cards) is lost or stolen.

Hotel Security 101

1.        When researching a hotel, be on the lookout for hotels that have:

a.        Safety plans. All reputable hotels should have safety policies in place, which include the regular testing of their emergency systems.

b.        Sprinklers and fire detectors. Nowadays we take these basic safety features for granted, but some smaller hotels (e.g., bed and breakfasts) or those located in remote areas may not have such measures in place.

c.        Closed-circuit television cameras. Once taboo, closed-circuit cameras have recently become a common security feature at major hotels. While some might balk that they are a violation of privacy, it’s important to note that these cameras are in place for your protection and have helped to prevent and/or solve many unfortunate incidents.

d.        Peep holes in your hotel room door. It’s important to be able to quickly identify an unexpected individual knocking at your door.

e.        Iridescent exit markers in emergency stairwells. In case of a fire, iridescent signage like this will assist you and other hotel guests find your way to safety.

f.        In-room safes. Most hotels have in-room safes where you can store your valuables for extra protection. If not, consider purchasing a money belt where you can discreetly carry valuables with you.

2.        Don’t book a room on the ground floor, which has doors or windows that open to the outside. These rooms are more accessible to foot traffic and more likely to be the target of a robbery or break-in.

3.        Book a room on floors 4 through 6. Staying in a room between floors 4-6 ensures that you are high enough above ground level to reduce your risk of petty crime, but low enough to ensure an easy exit in case of emergency. As with the ground floor, lower levels are subject to increased foot traffic, increasing accessibility to you and your belongings. There are also several locations where fire rescue ladders can only reach as high as the 6th floor. In an emergency, the higher your location the higher your risk.

4.        Familiarize yourself with the emergency exit closest to your room. Most hotel guests recall seeing an evacuation route sign in the hallway of their hotel, but few ever make the effort to actually read them. Do yourself a favor by familiarizing yourself with the emergency evacuation route, so that you don’t have to do so in the heat of the moment. Consider walking the route to find out where the exit leads you, so you can get to safety as quickly as possible.

5.        Lock your door. It seems simple enough, but you’d be surprised how often people don’t take advantage of the locking mechanisms on their hotel doors. If your hotel door has a deadbolt or additional lock mechanism, use it.

Airport Security – Did You Know?

1.        The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is currently piloting millimeter wave passenger imagine technology at airports around the country. This technology can detect weapons, explosives and other threat items concealed under layers of clothing without physical contact.  A 3-D image of the body, with facial features blurred for privacy, is displayed on a remote monitor for analysis.

2.        In the wake of the swine flu outbreak, thermal-Imaging technology is currently being employed at airports in Asia to identify individuals with increased temperatures, who may carry the disease. If someone is suspected of having a fever, they are immediately triaged by a doctor or nurse. This technology is also being used to single out individuals thinking about committing, or having committed, a deceptive act. The idea behind this use is that lying or acts of deception cause excessive blood-flow to the face that can be detected by heat sensor technology.

3.        London’s Stansted Airport recently began testing facial recognition technology at their security gates. The system measures points on a person’s face and compares them with the digital passport photograph in the hopes of rooting out potential terrorists. As with any new technology, there are potential weaknesses with facial recognition. For example, there are many terrorists for whom images are not readily available. These individuals are not included in the image database and, as a result, are not detectable through this security technology.

4.        Bomb-sniffing dogs are a longtime security tool used at airports and other main travel thoroughfares. These animals are specially trained to identify suspicious cargo, including bombs and drugs.

Kroll, the world’s leading risk consulting company, provides a broad range of investigative, intelligence, financial, security and technology services to help clients reduce risks, solve problems and capitalize on opportunities. Headquartered in New York with offices in more than 65 cities in over 33 countries, Kroll has a multidisciplinary team of approximately 4,000 employees and serves a global clientele of law firms, financial institutions, corporations, non-profit institutions, government agencies, and individuals. Kroll is a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE: MMC), the global professional services firm.

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