At Travel Security Summit, Destinations Told to Be Prepared

NEW YORK — Travel destinations and venues must practice and prepare for potential terror attacks, active shooters and natural disasters, according to security experts who spoke at the U.S. Travel Association’s inaugural Secure Tourism Summit here last week.

“The more you practice and plan, the better you’ll anticipate the next crisis,” said Frances Townsend, former assistant to President George W. Bush for homeland security and counterterrorism.

The best preparations, the experts said, include training exercises, public-private coordination and consistent messaging.

“The U.S. government and state and local law enforcement cannot be everywhere all the time,” said Jeh Johnson, the former secretary of homeland security under President Obama. “So homeland security –  hometown security — has to be a matter of public-private partnerships.”

Johnson was one of several speakers who urged airports, sporting venues, destinations and any other tourism entities to ask local authorities to help prepare them for crises.

Dave LaPorte, senior vice president of airport operations at Denver Airport, said that in the past, the airport police were responsible for public safety, and the TSA was responsible for security.

“We are now one team,” he said. “We meet once a week. We exercise together. We get security briefings for the whole leadership team.”

The industry needs to prepare not only for disasters but for policy shifts, such as the current electronics ban, which prohibits flyers from 10 airports in the Middle East and North Africa from carrying laptops in carry-ons.  “If I were in the airline or tourism business, I’d say, ‘What do I do if that is expanded?’” Townsend said. “What if it’s more than 10? What if it applies to U.S. domestic flights? … Ask yourself what may happen next.”

Source: http://www.travelweekly.com/North-America-Travel/At-travel-security-summit-destinations-told-to-be-prepared