Business Travel: When Low-Risk Destinations Suddenly become High/Extreme-Risk

Many of us have been guilty of traveling to familiar, low-risk destinations for work or pleasure, giving little thought to proper research and preparation. After all, who would imagine any risk on a family winter getaway to Dubai or honeymoon safari in Kenya. Brochures paint a picture of paradise, so what could possibly go wrong?

Yet the recent outbreak of war with Iran saw travelers’ and expatriates’ lives turned upside down overnight, especially across the Gulf states. These usually safe locations were suddenly under drone and missile attack, low-risk became extreme-risk in the blink of an eye.

Overseas visitors instantly found themselves in precarious situations, many realizing they had little idea what to do or what plans were in place for them. Who could they turn to for help? How should they shelter? Could they evacuate, especially when the airport was a principal target? Just 24 hours earlier, as people were making weekend plans, these questions would have seemed unthinkable.

Essential preparation for all business travelers

Most travelers will have organizational support, whether internal or external, to help them, but there are some essential steps you should take before any travel.

– Check the country’s security risk rating.
– Understand what support your company or organization provides.
– Do your own research about the destination.
– Sign up for alerts.
– Let’s look at these in more detail.

Country security risk ratings

Always check your destination’s security risk rating before travel, even if you already know it well. Well-established by both government and commercial organizations, this system commonly classifies locations into five tiers, ranging from negligible to extreme risk. These ratings give a quick overview of the security situation in your destination country and should inform you how much research, preparation and support is needed for the trip.

The risk rating is established not only by the security situation and crime levels, but also by other factors such as the capability of local security services, the state’s incident recovery resilience and the availability of external support. Also worth considering, though not always included, are the size of the territory and the risk ratings of neighboring countries.

For example, extreme-risk Afghanistan is unlikely to impact a traveler to its low-risk neighbor China but may affect one in medium-risk Tajikistan. The State Department risk map has an added layer that indicates countries in which some areas have higher security risk. For Mexico, it goes a step further and provides ratings by state.

Organizational support

Most large organizations with business travelers and expatriates scattered around the world have a robust travel risk management program in place. Typically, this includes policies and procedures, emergency responses, business traveler assistance and evacuation plans (for expatriates). Regardless of destination, establish exactly what support is available and check what you can expect if something extreme occurs while you are away.

If your organization provides access to an assistance company, register with their app and keep a hard copy of their emergency number in case you lose your devices. They can greatly help with your planning and most offer before, during and after travel telecoms support, so take advantage of the expert advice always at hand.

Research your destination

When researching your destination, especially as a first-time visitor or returning after a long absence, specifically consider:

– Is the political situation stable, not only in the destination, but also in their immediate region?
– Has your government issued any travel warnings? Note that these can affect your insurance coverage.
– Do natural disasters and/or extreme weather events occur?
– What is the state’s capability to respond to external aggression or adverse events?
– Does the emergency infrastructure adequately support both its citizens and travelers?
– Are there any cultural considerations, and does your personal situation require additional resources or preparation?
– Do any upcoming events, festivals or religious holidays occur during your trip, which may significantly impact your ability to travel or leave in an emergency?
– How will you travel around? Is public transport safe, do you need to pre-arrange pickup? What time do you arrive and could that pose challenges?
– Do you have any medical considerations? Consider packing extra critical medications in case your trip is forced to extend.

Sign up for alerts

Sign up for alerts for your destination. If your organization uses an assistance company they will likely have an app providing information about your destination, emergency contact options, and a range of travel, security and health tools. Most offer push notifications relevant to your location. You may also have access to a similar service through your insurance provider – either through its own app or reduced version of the assistance company’s version.

All travelers can also enroll in their government travel advice scheme. If your own government doesn’t have an app or push notifications, see if you can use another country’s service. Ireland has a freely available app and the UK government email alerts can be accessed by all.

As a minimum, these services will notify you of significant events or incidents that may affect you and suggest appropriate action to take to keep yourself safe.

Once at your destination

Take a genuine interest in your destination. Engage with taxi drivers, hotel staff, restaurant workers, and local colleagues. You can easily but subtly steer conversations around to matters of safety by asking about neighborhoods to avoid, transport reliability and local emergency protocols. However, avoid contentious topics; focus instead on practical, everyday matters. These conversations will give you a huge insight into how the locals see the situation and will tie together all the research you have done before traveling.

When things go wrong

If an incident occurs, some of the same rules apply whether a natural disaster, extreme weather or armed conflict.

Stay calm. By staying calm, you give yourself the best chance of survival. It lets you think rationally, make sensible decisions and allows your instincts to work; instincts are part of our DNA and help keep us safe in all situations. Assess what is happening, what the risk is and from where. What do you need to do immediately to improve your safety?

Think like a survivor. Is there a direct risk to life and do you need to move? Where can you move to and how do you get there safely? Do not remain in a life-threatening situation, but if your current surroundings offer protection, shelter in place.

Get to a safe place. As soon as it is safe to do so, and without exposing yourself to more danger, move to a safe location. Depending on the risk, this should provide greater shelter and security, generally with public access.

Communicate. Call your emergency contacts and let them know what has happened, where you are and your condition. Remember, if you are well and safe, resources may be focused on people in more serious situations, but they will respond to you in good time. Always keep your devices charged and switched on.

Finally

Do not assume your embassy will be able to evacuate you. Whilst some may offer limited assistance, more recently many have been unable to provide direct support. However, do register for any travel services they offer, such as the US State Department’s STEP program.