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Protecting Guests

Outside the Casino

By Jim Goding

The first thing to remember is that anyone with large amounts of cash or valuables that can be fenced is a potential target.

High-roller guests, carrying cash out of the hotel, should be offered a Security escort, especially if they are traveling in their own vehicle. Better yet, Cage or Casino Hosts should offer electronic transfer as an option.

Protection of the names and addresses of hotel and casino guests should be absolute. This means computer security. No one should be allowed to give away or sell or even access the names or other data regarding hotel guests, who has not been authorized to do so as a specific part of their job functions.

Just imagine what an organized group could do if they could access information regarding high-end players. First, they would know when potential targets would be coming to the hotel, so could organize thefts from the targets’ homes. Second, if they could find out in advance what rooms the guests would be staying in, thefts on hotel premises could be arranged and planned in advance. If criminals can predict (from casino records) when and where a person would be playing, they know when the room or suite might be unattended, and they could even plan in advance how to arrange a theft of cash from the person in the casino.

Certain types of gatherings, such as jewelers’ conventions, Indian shows, rodeos, and so on, attract people with lots to steal. Security should be beefed up at these times, and camera surveillance should be increased both in the convention area and other areas that offer targets of opportunity, such as hotel check-in, valet, shopping areas and others.

Many guests arriving in tourist destination towns are sadly misinformed as to the degree of protection actually available. They assume that there is sufficient police presence to discourage thieves, scam artists, and others. Unfortunately, this tends to make them careless with their property. They are on vacation, they don’t want to worry, but in actual fact it is impossible to stop all the thieves before they act.

A briefing sheet could be given to every hotel guest, telling them the simple things they could do to avoid becoming the victims of the various scams. Things like, never leave your purse or money unattended, don’t carry all your money with you, don’t leave your expensive jewelry sitting out on the hotel-room dresser, lock your car in the parking garage, and other common-sense pointers that people don’t follow.

We have all seen that the greatest majority of victims, to some degree, brought it on themselves by their own carelessness. This can be prevented. Such a briefing sheet should be written by a public relations professional, however, so as not to unnecessarily frighten your guests.

Other Hazards

Major hazards to tourists include high-traffic areas, construction, cleaning and landscaping crews at work, and getting to and from the hotel from airports.

During conventions, travel to and from the convention is not just an inconvenience, it can be a hazard to life and property. One of the greatest services that a hotel can offer its guests is regular shuttle service to and from convention areas outside the hotel, including busses, contracts with taxi companies, and company limousines.

High traffic areas around a casino should be surveyed and analyzed. Is this the best place for a taxi line? Does traffic flow smoothly through the valet area, or are guests forced to walk across vehicular traffic in order to reach the front doors? Can guest leaving through the front door reach the valet pickup area without walking through a stream of rushing cabs? Do your valets drive the patrons’ cars safely?

Self-parking areas are another major hazard to health, life and property. Can the guest leave the hotel and reach his car without having to traverse unlighted areas? Is there sufficient (and sufficiently obvious) camera coverage in the parking area to discourage would-be strong-arm thieves? Can a person safely walk through the parking garage, looking for where he left his car, without being run over because of poor visibility? Can a thief walk through the parking area, checking out vehicles, without being seen? Is there sufficient Security presence to discourage would-be thieves of all varieties?

A recent scam in Las Vegas involved a group who simply drove a truck into casino parking garages, loaded up Harley-Davidson motorcycles and drove away. Could this occur at your hotel?

The most important thing to remember is that if your guests are not protected, if they can be scammed, injured or stolen from, your casino is open to civil suits because of your neglect. Even if it can be shown that the casino was not at fault, every time a patron goes home with a tale of woe—he got his wallet lifted, he got hit by a cab, his merchandise or vehicle was stolen—you lose a minimum of ten other customers because of his relatives and friends, and all the people they will talk to, who will never come to your casino.

Copyright © 1998, 2002 by Jim Goding. All rights reserved. Duplication in any form, electronic or otherwise, without the express written permission of the author is forbidden, is a violation of the proprietary rights of the author and is actionable under law. This article may be purchased for a nominal fee by clicking on the following link.

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