Categories
Business Travel Travel Management

2019 Travel Risks You Should Know

Having reliable risk management solutions is crucial for a well-rounded travel program. This is especially true if you are an international company or have travelers flying internationally. Last month, I attended a travel risk seminar presented by International SOS. As leaders in the travel risk field, it focused on latest stats and 2019 travel risks.

Top risks for business travelers in 2019

For good or bad, not a lot is expected to change in 2019 when in comes to travel risks. The risk of dangerous or extreme events is predicted to be about the same as compared to 2018. In fact, perceived risk from business travelers has been on the decline over the past couple of years. This of course, does not mean that hazards have disappeared. Instead, business travelers  may be more accustomed to the risks that they face.

  1. Natural disasters and extreme weather – In 2018, the U.S. faced devastating hurricanes and wildfires. We also saw earthquakes and typhoons shake countries across the globe. While many areas are still recovering, tumultuous weather and extreme storms are expected to continue in 2019 at the same rate.
  2. Epidemic and re-emerging diseases – With our fast news cycles, it’s easy to forget about growing diseases like Zika, Ebola and other infectious diseases found in other countries. Before traveling, be sure to research the diseases found in your destination area and prepare accordingly. 
  3. Terrorism and attacks in low risk destinations – Places we once considered low-threat are seeing increased rates of terrorist attacks, for example the UK and areas in Europe. This is anticipated to continue in 2019.   
  4. Increasing traveler volumes and the rise of global mobility – With lower airline fares and a better economy in the U.S., more people are traveling locally, as well as abroad. This rise in masses has its hand in increasing other risks, like illness, traffic and overcrowding.
  5. Political unrest – Did you know that six countries in South America will have a change in power this year? Shifts in power, like a new political party in office can sometimes lead to political unrest and even protests. It is important to be aware of the cultural and political energy in any area you plan a trip.  

Top ways for companies to stay ahead in 2019

  1. Review and update current travel policies – As technology and communication continues to advance, it’s important that your travel policies and protocols are reflected for the benefit of your travelers.
  2. Improve preparation and training – This goes hand-in-hand with the first bullet point. Understand where your policies may be lacking, but also update your team and provide additional training if needed. As with other security protocols, it’s essential your team knows what to do in case of an emergency.
  3. Expand with enterprise-wide solutions – Depending on the size of your company and the number of travelers, relying on a third-party travel risk management company may be your best option for handling travel emergencies.  
  4. Understand the protocol, should an emergency occur – Just a friendly reminder, some international travelers call their TMCs looking for assistance in the time of crisis. While TMCs provide essential information, it’s important to use it in conjunction with travel risk management companies, like International SOS. They are the emergency procedure experts, and who you want in charge in a dangerous situation. Ensuring your internal staff knows who to call, and under which circumstances, can eliminate hiccups when an emergency occurs.  
Categories
Business Travel

Modified Travel Itineraries Increased In 2016 Due To Risk Factors

As security threats become more prevalent and health concerns rise in different areas of the world, travel managers and company decision-makers have been watching. A new study by International SOS and Control Risks found an overall increase in modified travel itineraries due to travel risk factors in 2016.  In addition to itinerary modification, 80% of organizations adjusted or reinforced travel security measures in various other ways. Almost half of the respondents say they increased their travel mitigation procedures in the last year.

Overall, the business travel industry as a whole sees the need to update travel procedures or implement risk mitigation activities. And it’s not slowing down anytime soon. Even with this jump in travel risks, business travel has risen by 44% in the last year, according to this study. Over half expected business travel to increase through 2017 as well. Meaning more companies are likely to update risk protocol in the future.

Top risk mitigation actions during 2016:

Below are the ways in which companies increased their risk mitigation techniques over 2016.

  • Reinforced travel security measures (50%)
  • Updated travel policy (45%)
  • Introduced pre-trip travel advisory emails (39%)
  • Implemented travel safety training (32%)
  • Implemented programs to locate travelers (25%)
  • Provided pre-travel health programs (22%)
  • Invested in crisis communication systems (20%)
  • Enforced use of mobile check in (15%)

The greatest challenges facing travel managers or human resource managers:

Companies are actively taking precautions to ensure their business travelers are safe. Unfortunately, a hurdle with most decision makers is internal compliancy with their travelers. Below are the top challenges employers faced in implementing new risk management protocols.

  • Educating employees about travel risks (49%)
  • Communicating during a crisis (47%)
  • Tracking employee travel (42%)
  • Confirming that employees have read pre-travel information (37%)
  • Travel risk policy compliance (31%)
  • Managing a crisis (31%)
  • Business continuity planning (23%)
  • Implementing a travel risk policy (23%)
  • Confirming that employees have taken travel risk training (23%)
  • Understanding legal obligations to travelers (22%)
  • Management buy-in of travel risk policy (18%)

Activities found to be successful by travelers and decisions makers:

Overall, travelers are less likely to encounter problems if the prepared for the destination and have a known procedure for events. These are the tasks both travelers and decision makers found success in mitigating immediate travel risks in their destination city.

  • Share itinerary with friends and family (59%)
  • Research threats by destination (54%)
  • Know vaccination requirements (42%)
  • Explore attitudes, cultures, and practice of local population (42%)
  • Protect against mosquito bites (36%)

How Christopherson Business Travel provides safety reassurance

Studies like these just reinforce why we created our AirPortal 360 suite in the first place. Our SecurityLogic technology allows travel managers to instantly locate their travelers anywhere in the world in an instant. Displaying safety risks, weather complications, traffic delays, etc, it provides an overview of the destination, without needing to be on the ground or search through additional websites. Should an emergency or disaster strike, our Safety Check feature contacts the traveler instantaneously, notifying them they need to check in with their

Should an emergency or disaster strike, our Safety Check feature contacts the traveler instantaneously- notifying them that they need to check in with their employer. We provide peace of mind for duty or care responsibilities and work fast in an emergency. Our other technology tools in the suite compliment SecurityLogic, ensuring everything you need is in one place.

 

Christopherson Business Travel is a corporate travel management company, specializing in advanced technology and personalized account management. Learn more about SecurityLogic and our other tools, or contact us for a free demo.

Categories
Travel Management Travel Technology

Reduce Business Travel Risk with SecurityLogic®

SecurityLogic is a duty of care assistance tool, accessible via desktop, smartphone, or tablet, that provides travel managers the ability to verify safety and location of business travelers.
SecurityLogic is a duty of care assistance tool, accessible via desktop, smartphone, or tablet, that provides travel managers the ability to verify safety and location of business travelers.

With many companies expanding their travel programs domestically, multi-nationally, or globally, business travel continues to become more and more complex, especially when it comes to risk and safety. Christopherson Business Travel understands the stress of fulfilling those duty of care requirements and provides valuable technology to help to reduce business travel risk.

Christopherson’s duty of care tool SecurityLogic®, allows travel managers to locate travelers quickly and push alerts to communicate instructions or information to travelers via text or email in emergency situations. Unlike other disaster recovery products, SecurityLogic continuously pulls data from the Global Distribution System (GDS), thereby providing real-time accuracy.

SecurityLogic also provides access to multiple global map overlays and because all travel information is geocoded to street level accuracy, travel managers can easily zoom in on any country, city, or street to find their business travelers anywhere in the world.

As an extra level of safety and communication, SecurityLogic has a two-way check-in feature called Safety Check, which allows travel managers to send travelers a check-in message to verify their safety. Upon receipt, the traveler simply responds to the message one of two ways: “I’m safe.” or “I need assistance” (with an additional field to explain their need). SecurityLogic then geocodes the traveler’s location using the GPS coordinates provided by the traveler’s cell phone.

SecurityLogic delivers the following key benefits:

  • Quickly locate travelers by name, travel date, and/or location
  • Request verification of safety and location from travelers through the check-in feature
  • Get real-time info on weather, airport delays, security, and disaster alerts
  • Push alerts directly to travelers via text and email
  • Use map overlays to view weather, traffic, and travelers anywhere in the world
  • Quickly zoom from global to street-level view

Travel managers can also find confidence in Christopherson’s service which is available 24/7/365. This means your business travelers can call us at any time to make changes to itineraries and get travel assistance in the event of an emergency or unexpected delay.