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Guest, baggage screening at hotels mooted

NEW DELHI: Baggage checks at hotels might become the order of the day with the Union Tourism Ministry asking all State governments to beef up security arrangements in and around hotel establishments in the wake of the Mumbai terror attack.

Union Tourism Secretary Sujit Banerjee has written to the Chief Secretaries of States and Union Territories advocating the need for more stringent security arrangements. Besides X-ray machines for screening luggage at the entrance of all hotels, he has suggested security check of guests.

Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni has convened a meeting of the National Tourism Advisory Council on December 15 to assess the situation and discuss the confidence-building measures for domestic and foreign tourists.

The meeting comes in the wake of reports of bulk cancellation of hotel bookings — already at a low owing to the global meltdown — after the Mumbai terror strike.

The Minister has also offered the services of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for the restoration of the Taj Hotel (Mumbai). In a letter to Chairman of Taj Group of Hotels Ratan Tata on November 28, she pointed out the ASI’s expertise in conservation and restoration of heritage structures.

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