Launched in March, the Global Secure Accreditation ISO 31030 Organization Readiness Assessment and Audit Program is regarded by many as the most forward-thinking, independent assessment process for hotel and travel security, and the adoption of this first global benchmark is increasing among hotels.
Hotel industry professionals said adopting this standard, and having hotels accredited annually, provides not only safety benefits for travelers and guests but also other advantages such as increasing reputation and widening revenue possibilities. Accreditation will be particularly notable to corporate clients and travelers.
GSA has offices in London, Colombo, Jakarta and Sydney.
The 788-room Strand Palace, a hotel owned by London + Regional Hotels, has gone through the GSA hotel-security accreditation process, while business advisory PwC claimed it is the first firm certified under the ISO 31020 assessment and audit program. Opened in 1909, the Strand Palace also finished an entire renovation in May 2020.
In a news release about the program, Morne Landman, the head of safety and security at the Strand Palace, said the process has allowed the hotel to secure more corporate business by demonstrating a duty of care. It has also improved its request-for-proposal process surrounding security, and helped managers to obtain key external feedback on current security measures as well as knowledge of cutting-edge safety and security trends.
Jamie Childs, cluster director of marketing overseeing the Strand, said the GSA accreditation took on extra importance due to the hotel's large room count.
“With as many rooms as we have, security is paramount. Hotel safety in general covers a wide spectrum," he said. “One advantage of our hotel is the large number of single rooms we have for corporate travelers, but it can be quite daunting for them in such a central location. We can have up to 1,200 guests, so we saw this process as an opportunity to promote our security.”
The hotel typically is 95% to 97% booked on weekends, “which is fantastic, testament to the accountability we show, but this is never about hammering [the accreditation] to guests,” he said.
Childs added the hotel’s staff, which ranges in number between 100 and 150 on any given day, is proud of its history and the new era it has entered.
“We’ve been here so long in the same location, and now we are back on the map. We have shared our accreditation across multiple sources — website, press releases, corporate clients. It creates peace of mind,” he said.
Less Risk
The GSA program was developed in partnership with SFJ Awards, a United Kingdom government-regulated body. It assesses and audits hotels' and other organizations' security and travel risk-management processes and policies.
Richard Stanley, head of United Kingdom security at PwC, which has a staff of approximately 25,000, said meeting the standard will help firms reduce legal and financial risks if employee travel for any reason does not go according to plan.
“GSA accreditation and certification gives corporate offices the satisfaction we’ve gone through an audit internationally. It is something we’ve been focused on for the last 15 years — travel safety and a focus on our people.
He said the process for PwC started late last year, adding the COVID-19 pandemic in many ways brought all safety and security to the forefront.
Stanley added PwC has always had top-notch safety processes but that when this ISO became a publicly available specification, the firm saw the importance of starting to align its processes to secure independent accreditation.
Laetitia Piroddi, head of travel risk and security operations at PwC, led the process.
“The main issue was to document the process, what this ISO would actually look like. We did a ‘gap analysis’ against the ISO, looked internally, and we had to liaise with a lot of people in the organization, around travel, insurance, incident response and risk management,” she said.
Sandy Moring, a corporate travel advisor accredited to GSA, said firms seeking to obtain the accreditation should not hesitate.
“Being able to have your strategy for travel risk management externally evaluated is a healthy approach to verify protocols and gives you confidence that your organization is managing risk in a proactive manner," she said. “Obtaining accreditation to the new ISO 31030 standard is totally achievable as it is based on best practice and therefore the recommendations are sensible. The first step would be to conduct a gap analysis and work on the areas that require strengthening.”
Moring said that while the standard currently is issued as a guideline while being globally road-tested, it is anticipated in two years’ time to be upgraded to a Type A standard, which is a specification document.
“When it is upgraded … it will become auditable, and I envisage that more and more companies will add this standard to their list of formal accreditations," she said. “This has implications for the entire industry. Hotels will need to ensure they can demonstrate high levels of safety and security to be considered as a supplier to corporates. Travel management companies will need to make sure they fully understand the standard and can provide advice on it to their corporate clients, who are likely to make adherence to the standard a requirement to do business with a TMC. Corporates will need to demonstrate their compliance to reassure traveling employees and showcase their credentials as an employer.”
Back on the Road
PwC’s Piroddi said on average the firm’s U.K. office conducted 500 trips per month and 24,000 annually pre-pandemic.
“Now, we’re 30% from that, but it will increase as the desire to get to clients increases,” she said.
Stanley said an internal group meets monthly, quarterly and annually on the ISO process as it pertains to PwC.
“Travel is demand-driven, an agile and flexible process. We might get a note today that someone is traveling to a high-risk destination tomorrow, so there is no point having a convoluted process,” he said.
Piroddi said the firm’s carbon-footprint strategy will also play a part in the number and nature of trips taken. For most travelers, travel will be conducted without conscious thinking about safety processes and that on occasion PwC will send out its own security personnel to third-party venues.
Childs said The Strand Palace’s location between Aldwych and Trafalgar Square and past Charing Cross Station on the edge of Covent Garden and the West End means there is massive footfall right outside its front doors.
“Terror alerts are still high, and recruitment being as it is, there is a lot of new staff, some of which are new to the industry. Having everyone trained and aware of these processes adds to the guest experience," he said. “Do not take a back seat when you get [accreditation.]. It always is an ongoing process, and with group business coming back, too. Inquiries are coming back to normal levels on a daily basis, and this ISO is a selling point."
Stanley said the same duty of care provided in the office environment must be applied when people are traveling.
“We also see the business opportunities of this, that it comes into play with international and high-risk destinations, with work for the [U.K.’s] government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. It can give us the competitive edge,” he said.
As more hotels, airlines, firms and others in the travel space adopt such measures, safety standards will be heightened, Stanley said, adding there are other accreditation organizations.
He said the first step is often the longest one for hotels and organizations.
“It is usually the process that stops people. Start to engage with whoever it is you are going to engage with. It is scalable. It can have all the bells and whistles, but if you have only two employees traveling a month, it does not have to be all singing, all dancing,” Stanley said.
Stanley added PwC did get one comment of criticism when it was awarded accreditation.
“No [staff travelers at PwC were] bothering to submit travel feedback,” he said.