The month of May brought with it some serious issues for hotel owners in both Nashville and Manhattan. Flooding forced hotels to evacuate guests in the Nashville area while a bombing attempt emptied hotels in the Times Square vicinity. Proof once again that you can’t pre-plan for the unexpected soon enough.

In the Opryland Hotel, 1,500 guests had to be evacuated to a nearby high school as flood waters surprised nearly everyone in the area. In Manhattan, the SUV in the failed bomb attempt was parked beside the Marriott Marquis hotel, forcing the evacuation of the south wing of that hotel and that of The Edison hotel.

Be it flood, power, fire, or threat, hotels must be prepared for evacuation of guests. Prepare contingencies for all possible evacuation situations. For example, you may be able to relocate guests to other hotels in the event of fire, but if the area is under water, your contingency won’t suffice.  To visualize the intensity and extensity of the flood, please visit this link. http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/05/flooding_in_tennessee.html

The editor for the IIABA VUpoint Newsletter writes, “One of the photos (in link above) is of Opryland Hotel, where they evacuated over 1,500 guests to a local high school then scoured every Walmart in the area buying blankets, pillows, toiletries, etc. Rumor has it that the hotel has $50 million in flood insurance, including business income coverage. Whoever their risk manager is or was who struck this deal, s/he should get Employee of the Month.”

Also, your evacuation plan needs to designate who’s in charge of what duties during an evacuation. Your plan should include designating the following duties to staff and management members:

• Advising guests of evacuation, including communication method
• Securing the property, make sure guests have vacated, which areas will be secured, and how that will be done
• Arranging for alternative shelter and where that will be
• Procuring guest transportation and which transportation companies to contact
• Ensuring all records are secured (ideally, you should be using offsite storage regularly for your critical business files)
• Release employees, in what order, and designate those who will remain on duty, if needed

The more pre-planning the better. For instance, talk with transportation companies now to understand how much warning they need in order to assist with your evacuation. Make sure to keep more than one company on stand-by should the reason for the evacuation also affect any nearby company’s ability to respond.

For tips on how to build a fast response to various business-closing events, contact me. I can help you build a more comprehensive plan that protects your business and your guests.  Un-natural, natural disasters should emphasize the need for flood insurance coverage, even if you’re property is not on a flood plain, AND business income coverage – both in with sufficient values to withstand any disaster.

Flickr photo credit: www78