Thieves check in to rob guests

02 Sep 2014  2039 | World Travel News

HO CHI MINH CITY City authorities say they will crackdown on so-called “crafty thieves” who check-in five-star hotels to rob valuables from guest rooms, when tourists are on sightsseing tours.
Municipal police department Captain Nguyen Van Loi told local media that thieves routinely check in hotels frequented by foreign tourists using false identification papers.
“The thieves then break into neighbouring rooms to steal property from tourists when they are sightseeing,” he explained.
Foreign tourists staying at five-star hotels are apparently the most sought-after targets and news of such a glaring security lapse at top hotels will worry international tour operators who will be concerned for the safety of their clients.
They will have assumed that five-star hotels are the safest places to book.
Captain Loi admitted that crime reporting protocols had grown overly complicated.
“We’ve heard of cases where the authorities refused to take a report because they believed the victim hoped to defraud a travel insurance company,” he said.
The Municipal Culture and Tourism Department’s Travel Division head, Nguyen Duc Chi, reported 68 cases of burglaries at expat-managed hotel properties.
The figure represented a slight decrease from last year, he said, adding that the actual figures could be much higher, due to reporting faults.
Usually, a lack of evidence , or complicated paperwork, discourages tourists from making reports, he said.
But it is understood, tourists report losses to hotel managements and the fact they have failed to close loopholes in security that allow thieves to check-in with false identity papers is worrisome.
Due to the damage it causes to hotel chains, the problem tends to be hushed up, but it sends an alarming message to people who check-in famous hotels in Ho Chi Minh City believing they are more secure than humble guesthouses.

sourced:ttrweekly.com

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