In order to ask the right people the right questions, those same questions have to be asked to the wrong people.
Sid, agreed, I see both sides of this but as there is no effective way of confirming that the personal details given given are correct; so it's a nugatory system because it totally depends on the honesty of the individual. The people who need catching are obviously
anything but honest and would obviously never be caught in this "trap"!
There is no legal requirement / mandate for anyone visiting a hotel to give correct personal details to a member of hotel staff i.e. there's no such offence of "giving false details to a hotel receptionist"! If there was a
proper check in place, using immigration or police officers (which of course is totally impractical), the helicopter would just be landed somewhere other than at a hotel, at least after the first time someone asks for personal details of the occupants of evil intent!
It could be argued that a dishonest receptionist could pass details of those using a hotel landing pad to those wanting to "hitch a ride" on the day, shall we say. Who is vetting the hotel staff with access to this information and what security system is in place to protect any details passed to them....get my drift? *Edit: we have our own "personal security" system to consider. The personal details of who we fly around are kept very much "in house" with good reason. I'm very aware that passing "in confidence" details to a hotel receptionist, or sent by fax is a potential breach of that security.
It can surely be seen that this "security system/operation" is something put in place so that those who need to cover their backsides can say that something
was put in place. It can do nothing to prevent a terrorist incident but as is often the case, it will make life more difficult for those going about their legal business on a daily basis.
Don't get me wrong, I'm as aware of the threat and as keen to help prevent it as anyone (probably more aware than most members of the public) but it does seem that the fear of an incident has the authorities running around in circles.