Hilton Relies on a Former FBI Agent to Keep Its Hotels Out of Harm’s Way
Photo Credit: Hilton's array of security features and teams give hotel owners a better understanding of when they are in an area of heightened risk, from terrorist attacks to hurricanes. Wikimedia / Tdorante10
Skift Take
Danger and risk come in a multitude of ways around the world. Hilton’s turn to the intelligence community for a revamped safety protocol is a smart one.
One might say the guiding principle in keeping Hilton’s more than 6,600 hotels safe goes back to Robert Mueller — yes, that Robert Mueller, the former Federal Bureau of Investigation director.
John Giacalone is Hilton’s vice president of safety and security, crisis management, fraud, and investigations. His job entails everything from deploying response teams to assist hotels during hurricane season to preparing staff for potential threats that could arise from major events and terrorist attacks.
But it was the 25 years he spent at the FBI, many of which involved working under Mueller, prior to joining Hilton in 2016 that helped usher in a new approach to how the hotel company manages risks and helps franchisees out in the face of danger.
“Everybody has a watershed moment in their lifetime,” Giacalone said in an interview with Skift. “Mine was 9/11.”
Twenty years later, and through the worst of a global pandemic, Giacalone's leadership and emphasis on extensive preparation allows his colleagues in senior management to sleep a bit easier when hotels and travel destinations remain on hyper-alert around the clock.
Giacalone worked for the FBI in a number of roles during his more than two-decade tenure. He was the special agent in charge of the counterterrorism division of the New York field office and eventually led a team of 6,000 people while serving as the executive assistant director of the FBI’s National Security Branch in Washington, D.C. The aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist at
