Increase in travel security highlighted

Irish travellers need to respond to the increased security threat they face in many parts of the world, a conference on travel security has been told.

This threat affects all Westerners and to be Irish provides no protection, according to Mr John Brophy, a former captain in the Army who now works as a security adviser for Risk Management International.

"Being Irish means nothing to billions of people in the world. You look like a Westerner, you dress like a Westerner, ergo you are a Westerner," he said. Even the most ordinary Westerner was "rich beyond belief" in many parts of the world and was therefore a potential target.

Speakers at the conference emphasised a range of personal security measures travellers can take to minimise the dangers to their safety. "Events over the last 15 months have made travel security a critical issue for companies and employees," said Mr Alan Neenan of Neenan Travel, which organised the conference.

Mr Kenneth Holmes, an aviation safety consultant with the Dutch airline KLM, said air travel had never been safer. The measures introduced by governments since September 11th had been extremely effective, he said.

KLM was reinforcing flight-deck doors and ensuring they could only be opened by pilots, he said. CCTV would be installed so that the crew could see who required access.

Mr Holmes said the Bali bombing and the Moscow siege showed that terrorists had turned their attention to softer targets.

Mr Frank Maguire, group security manager with Jurys Doyle Hotels, said the hotel industry recognised that informing guests about safety measures was good public relations.