Business Continuity, Policy & Planning

India: security threat cuts visit to stores and hotels

By Alice Kok | 12 May 2009

Indian’s heightened sense of insecurity over the past six months after the Mumbai attacks has led them to change their recreational behaviour in several significant ways.

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In particular, Indians have reduced their visits to discretionary venues, such as, hotels, restaurants and recreational areas, while they have maintained the same frequency of visits that they had in the past to banks and other establishments that they must visit out of necessity.

The study released by Boston Analytics said that the survey conducted with over 8000 Indians across 15 cities showed that majority of Indians feel their personal security is threatened. At least 50 per cent of the people surveyed felt very threatened to somewhat threatened, while 9 per cent of those interviewed felt extremely threatened.

There are several differences across India however, not only in terms of the venues in which Indians feel most insecure, but the extent to which they have reduced their visits to such venues over the past six months, as well as their tolerance for certain security measures and willingness to pay a surcharge for increased security.

The percentage of people who have reduced their visits to retail establishments is the highest in Nagpur and Mumbai.

Residents in Nagpur, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Lucknow in particular have witnessed significant reductions in visits to different types of recreational establishments—including retail stores, hotels, restaurants, banks, corporate offices, residential complexes, and transport hubs—over the past six months.

Interestingly—other than in transport hubs—Indians are most willing to submit to security checks in hotels and retail establishments. There are significant differences in the tolerance for manual body checks across cities however and by establishment type.

For India’s big cities to guarantee continued patronage of their establishments, the public has to be assured of their safety without too much hassle involved.

So far, CCTV and metal detectors are the most common types of security systems across different establishments or venues. Other than in airports in larger cities, the penetration of biometric screening is extremely low across India.