Media Centre

Official launch of “Safe Community Pledge” campaign for hotel sector

To further strengthen the security awareness of hotel staff in Hong Kong, the Inter-departmental Counter Terrorism Unit (ICTU) launched the “Safe Community Pledge” campaign in collaboration with the hotel sector on October 9, with the ceremony officiated by the acting Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), Mr YIP Wan-lung, Keith, and the Chairman of the Hong Kong Hotels Association (HKHA), Mr WONG Chak-fung, Peter.

As a metropolitan city, Hong Kong receives tens of thousands of tourists from around the world every day.  Hotel staff plays a pivotal role in providing them with quality accommodation services.

Nevertheless, many oversea attacks suggested that criminals might use hotels as a place for preparation of crimes or even treat them as target of attacks.  Previously, some extremists in Hong Kong were found to attempt hiding or manufacturing explosive precursors in hotels.  Therefore, the hotel industry should not neglect these security risks.

In fact, coming into contact with tourists and people of different nationalities and backgrounds every day, hotel staff may come across terrorism or violence related information or suspicious activities.  If the staff remain highly vigilant and promptly report any suspicious activities, it would effectively prevent the occurrence of any criminal acts.

In view of this, ICTU wishes to establish a long-term partnership with the hotel sector through the “Safe Community Pledge” campaign in order to raise its awareness of counter-terrorism (CT), crime prevention and crisis management.  In the future, ICTU will continue to provide hotel staff with training and seminars on CT awareness.  ICTU has also produced a tailor made pamphlet to further enhance the ability of its staff in identifying suspicious persons, objects and activities and to encourage them to report such information in a timely manner.

The campaign has gained the HKHA’s full support, with the active participation of nearly 140 hotels.  The Chairman of the association, Mr WONG, reiterated that the industry would endeavor to help promote various CT measures and publicity events so that hotel staff could become the gatekeepers of community safety and better safeguard tourists’ and their own personal safety.

Since June 2022, through the “Safe Community Pledge”, ICTU has reached out to the chemical industry sector, the logistics and transportation sector, etc.  In the coming days, ICTU will further expand its reach to different sectors to raise the CT awareness in the whole society and build a safe community together.