More than 40 million people visited Orange County in 2001 and tourism officials say making sure that OC is a safe destination is one way to keep them coming.

According to Travel Industry Association research conducted last year, about 15% of travelers think safety is the most pressing issue facing tourism today.
And that was before Sept. 11.

Since then, the National Business Travel Association reported that 58% of its members expect to reduce travel in 2002. And the Travel Industry Association expects only 38% of winter travelers to be headed for business meetings or conventions.

�In general, companies have restricted travel or limited how many people can travel,� said Steve Sedgwick, president of First Class International Travel in Foothill Ranch, which caters to corporate clients.

Though travel limitations can be driven by economics, security concerns are playing a big role. Japanese companies, for instance, virtually banned travel by their executives on U.S. carriers after Sept. 11.

Last year, the Anaheim Police Department and the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau joined to present a Tourism Safety and Security Conference that drew more than 200 attendees. 

Out of that conference, which drew praise from the state�s Division of Tourism, came the idea to form a regional tourism safety and security association. The goal, attendees said, would be to improve the safety and security of both visitors to Southern California and those working in tourist-related industries. 
Thus was born the Southern California Tourism Safety and Security Association, spearheaded by the Anaheim PD and Anaheim/OC bureau. Dave Wiggins, a member of the Anaheim Police Department�s tourist-oriented policing team, is the new association�s president.

Little did the association organizers know then that tourism security would take center stage by the end of the year. And interest in programs that address those issues has skyrocketed since September.

In the days immediately following the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., public facilities across the nation were widely believed to be at the most risk for future attacks. And Orange County was no exception. 

While most attention was focused on airports, helicopters patrolled the coastline and cities beefed up security at places like the Anaheim Convention Center, Arrowhead Pond, Edison International Field and Disneyland.

Disneyland moved quickly to add new security measures, inspecting all purses and backpacks at the gate and increasing patrols of the resort�s perimeter. At the Convention Center, public access now is limited to a few entry points, and most shows have implemented tighter ID controls. The National Association of Music Merchants, which brought more than 60,000 people to OC last week, met with city officials and the FBI prior to their convention and even brought bomb-sniffing dogs to the show. Organizers for the recent Cable Television Association Western Show considered banning laptop computers.

Last fall, the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau held a seminar for its members that focused on security and included a presentation from the FBI.

And officers from the tourist-oriented policing division have met with convention planners and accompanied bureau executives on visits to tour operators to address security concerns.

Wiggins said convention organizers often paid scant attention to security matters in the past. But now it�s a critical issue, he said.

Sgt. Rick Martinez, spokesman for the Anaheim Police Department, said, �We�re working closely with all facilities and meeting with hotel representatives to share information.�

Some of that sharing takes place at monthly safety and security forums for area hoteliers. Recently, attendance increased to about 60 as more business owners and managers put a higher priority on security issues. That can mean something as simple as making sure front desk hotel employees are more vigilant about checking guests� IDs, Martinez said. 

The new security awareness also has helped foil drug dealers and car thieves, Martinez said. At one recent meeting, attendees discussed ways to prevent hotel shuttle buses from being hijacked by would-be robbers.

The Police Department also provides businesses with security guidelines that include advice on handling everything from armed attackers to mail bombs to vandalism.

Hotels have become more vigilant, too.

At the Atrium Hotel near John Wayne Airport, director of sales Susan Valen-Hogberg said, the parking lot is being monitored more closely, and more time is being allowed for shuttle buses to make trips to and from the airport.

�We often have airline crews staying here,� she said. �So we have to be sensitive to that.�

At the new Doubletree Santa Ana, which opened last week, general manager Joe Relyea said security cameras monitor employee-only work areas and meeting rooms are locked whenever they are vacant. In Anaheim, the Disneyland Hotel is checking cars more closely and keeping an eye out for unattended luggage, a spokesman said.

Meanwhile, trade groups like the International Association of Exhibition Managers have added sessions on security and risk to upcoming meetings. 

The Las Vegas Safety & Security Conference�an 11-year-old event�has added a New York City hotelier and the editor of Aviation Week magazine to its roster of speakers this year.

The San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau publishes a �Visitor Safety Tips� brochure geared to everyone from conventioneers to families, and it is making plans for the 2003 Super Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium. Salt Lake City has banished visitors to the 2002 Winter Olympics to parking facilities miles from the competition venues. 

Dr. Peter Tarlow, a tourism safety expert who advises police departments and the U.S. government, says the real issue is how to create caution without promoting fear.

�It takes good police training to do that,� Tarlow said.  He said he thinks Anaheim�s efforts have paid off. 

�They�ve been successful in training and have lots of creativity,� he said.

On the corporate travel side, Calabasas-based Corporate Travel Safety.com, a travel safety consulting firm, has seen requests for its services increase dramatically. 

The firm was founded by Kevin Coffey, a Los Angeles police detective who began the airport crimes investigations detail of the Los Angeles Police Department in 1986. 

�We�re booked for speaking engagements until November,� a company spokesperson said.

Crisis communication and planning is a hot topic these days, too.  Tustin-based Crisispros, a consulting company that specializes in crisis management for bankruptcies, layoffs and plant closings as well as security preparation, has fielded more inquiries than normal in recent months. �There are definitely more companies more aware of the issue who want to do something about it,� said principal Bill Furlow.

But Tarlow worries that the current focus on security needs will become passé.

�It�s popular to focus on it now,� he said, �but it may not be in a few years. In the U.S. we like answers �right now,� but this (tourism security) requires a long-term commitment.�
 

Sandi Cain is copy editor and a staff reporter covering hospitality,tourism, travel and sports. Cain holds bachelor�s and master�s degrees in education from Kent State University in Ohio, where she majored in social studies. A former high school teacher, she has written for niche-market sports publications in the U.S., England and Australia and formerly worked in both the printing and high-tech industries. A Cleveland, Ohio native, Cain hasbeen a resident of Laguna Beach since the late �70s. She enjoys travel, gardening, reading and spoiling her three cats.