Exploring Strategies for Safety and Security in Tourism and Hospitality Industry in Ogun State
ADEOGUN O.1, TIAMIYU O. A.2 & ALABI A. A.3
Department of Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism Management
Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Ogun State
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ABSTRACT
Safety and security is one of the global forces that would transform the tourism and hotel industry in this new millennium. A tourist / guest who stay in the hotel industry at any of the tourist destinations could be prone to robbery, assault, rape, kidnap and fire outbreak. The aim of this paper is to find ways and means of mitigating the occurrences of incidents mentioned above. The methodology used for the research work include field survey and personal interviews conducted for the Ogun State Police Force, Chief Security Officers in five selected hotels and hotel personnel as well as hotel guests. The findings from the selected samples studied revealed that car theft and fire outbreaks especially in the kitchen / food production area sometimes occur in hotels, while kidnapping, rape and assault rarely occur. Therefore, the research came up with a triple tier systems approach as solution to safety and security issues in the hotel industry. This approach involves: training of staff in security and safety issues, use of plain police men as security backup in hotels, involvement of professional bodies such as Hospitality and Tourism Management Association of Nigeria (HATMAN), Nigerian Hotel and Catering Institute (NHCI) to be actively involved in organization of trainings, annual conferences, seminar, trade-fairs on latest technological development / equipment in security and safety matters for the hospitality industry.