First published by Grant Rayner on 13 Nov 2023
5 min read
Travel SecurityThis essay was originally published in Dangerous Travels on 13 Nov 2023 and was updated on 16 Feb 2024
This is the third article in a series focused on designing robust Travel Safety and Security Programmes. In this article, I’ll focus on the logistics aspects of business travel, including flights, accommodation, meet-and-greet services, and local transport.
From the outset, you should not leave it up to your travellers to select airlines or hotels. Similarly, you should not let your travellers fend for themselves when it comes to determining which local transport options are safe.
As with other aspects of travel safety and security, there are advantages in taking a risk-based approach to travel logistics. Lower-risk countries require less attention than higher-risk countries.
Let’s start by addressing the programme-level aspects of air travel.
Your organisation should have documented policies regarding the selection of airlines for corporate travel. These policies should enforce the use of safe airlines for international and domestic flights. Another approach is to maintain a ‘blacklist’ of non-approved airlines and a ‘greylist’ of airlines that may be used with permission in certain situations.
Once you’ve identified approved airlines, the key is to ensure that travellers cannot book travel on non-approved airlines. To achieve this, you’ll need to integrate your list of approved airlines into your travel booking system.
The list of approved airlines to get to a particular location should be included in the respective destination guide. Importantly, the destination guide should be specific regarding the safety of domestic airlines. Domestic airlines are often less safe than their international counterparts, requiring additional attention. If certain domestic airlines are not approved, you can make that clear in the destination guide.
If travellers are likely to move to other locations within a country, you should specify in the respective destination guide whether they should travel by air or road. This decision can be challenging in developing countries, where domestic airlines may not meet international safety standards and where road conditions are poor.
I’ve discussed aviation security in more detail in earlier articles.
Travellers will spend a significant amount of time in their hotels while away. As such, where travellers stay can have a significant impact on their safety. Here’s three examples showing how poorly selected hotels can increase risk to travellers:
At a high level, your organisation’s policies on use of accommodation should be risk based. For lower-risk locations, it may not matter where travellers stay. However, as risk increases, you should be more definitive regarding accommodation options. For locations where there is a risk from terrorism, you should establish firm rules regarding where travellers can stay.
Your approach to conducting hotel safety and security assessments should also be risk based. The higher the risk, the more detailed the assessment process. Where there is a risk from terrorism, a formal process of hotel assessments is essential.
Hotel security assessments should be conducted on the ground by an experienced professional using a valid hotel security assessment methodology. As risks and hotel safety and security postures can change over time, you’ll need to have an ongoing schedule of safety and security assessments. As a guide, one assessment every two years is appropriate for higher-risk locations where there is a risk from terrorism. You should also be prepared to initiate assessments should the risk increase. A good example of this scenario would be Sri Lanka after the terrorist attacks in Colombo in 2019. Organisations with travellers in Colombo who probably weren’t conducting hotel assessments before the attacks should certainly have initiated hotel assessments after the attacks.
For most destinations, it’s advisable to limit the number of hotels in each city. This approach has a number of benefits, including the fact that it will reduce the ongoing burden of assessing hotel safety and security. As a guide, you should select two or three hotels close to your office to minimise risks when moving between the hotel and the office. You should also select two hotels slightly further away from the office in case there’s an incident in the immediate vicinity of the office and the area is no longer safe. Lastly, it’s useful to identify one or two hotels close to the airport.
Don’t lock yourself into only using hotels. In some locations, it may be preferable to stay in boutique hotels or guest houses.
Establish clear policies regarding the use of apartments or services such as Airbnb. My view is that I would avoid Airbnb for corporate travel because it introduces risks to privacy that can’t be effectively mitigated.
As with airlines, once you’ve identified secure hotels, you’ll need to integrate this list of hotels into your travel booking system to ensure travellers cannot book into other hotels. The list of approved hotels should also be included in the respective destination guide.
Where appropriate, include specific advice for each hotel in the destination guide. For example, in locations where there is a risk from terrorism, you might advise travellers to minimise their time in the lobby or in restaurants close to the drop off point or at vehicle and personnel inspection areas. It’s also useful to include driving, public transport or walking directions from the hotel to the local office.
Lastly, gather feedback from travellers after their trip, particularly in relation to their perception of safety while staying at the hotel. It’s particularly important to get feedback from female travellers.
Meet-and-greet services help to ensure a smooth transition for travellers between the airport and their hotel. Your organisation’s approach to meet-and-greet services should be risk based. For lower-risk locations, provide instructions in the respective destination guide on how the traveller should move from the airport to their hotel. Include specific details, such as how to get to the train station, bus stop or taxi stand. Don’t make the traveller have to work this out for themselves. Always assume your travellers will arrive tired. They may even have had a few drinks on the plane. Many could also be first time travellers.
Where meet-and-greet services are necessary, either identify a suitable local transport provider or use the hotel’s airport transfer service.
For higher-risk locations, establish more formal protocols. Establish a meeting point in the airport arrivals area (or airside if that’s permitted). Document ‘handshake’ protocols, and protocols for a situation where the local contact isn’t at the agreed meeting point when the traveller arrives. Detail the meet-and-greet arrangements in the respective destination guide. It’s useful to include a map of the arrivals area indicating the meeting point. Photos are also useful for orientation. Where necessary based on specific threats and risks, you might also need to coordinate security drivers, protective security details or armoured vehicles.
When you conduct traveller training, reinforce the importance of following meet-and-greet protocols.
Finally, have a procedure in place for travellers to report any concerns with meet-and-greet services after their trip. You could, for example, conduct a survey after trips to higher-risk locations to gather feedback.
Once on the ground, your travellers will need to move from their hotel to the office, meeting venues, and restaurants. Driving around town can expose travellers to several risks, including vehicle accidents and carjacking. Even breakdowns can expose travellers to risks, particularly if the breakdown occurs in a higher-risk part of town or in a more remote area.
In locations where there are security concerns, road safety concerns, or a combination of both, you should go through a formal process of vetting local transport providers.
Include information on ground transport options in the destination guides. Provide granular information regarding which options are preferred and which should be avoided. If certain taxi companies should be avoided, provide the name of the company and a photo of their taxis so it’s clear to the traveller. Include local contact numbers so travellers are able to change drivers if they believe their allocated driver is not driving safely.
In addition, have policies in place for specific types of transport. You might, for example, have a strict policy against employees riding motorcycles when travelling on business. Include these details in destination guides and reinforce any restrictions during training.
Ensure these policies are tailored to each location. While it’s perfectly okay to take tuk-tuks for short trips around town in Phnom Penh, it’s not okay to take the equivalent (CNGs) in Dhaka due to the fact that the driver can lock you in the rear of the vehicle. If there was an accident, you would not be able to exit.
You might also place restrictions on how employees move between different locations at night, particularly in more rural areas. While these restrictions may be implemented to mitigate security risks, they may also be essential in some locations to reduce the risk of catastrophic accidents.
Have a procedure in place for travellers to report concerns with vehicles and drivers. As with meet and greet services, you could conduct a survey after each trip. More importantly, however, ensure you have a mechanism for the traveller to change their vehicle and/or driver if they deem it necessary.
In addition to the requirements above, it’s also essential to provide training for travellers so they’re reminded to wear seatbelts and ensure they know to tell their driver to either slow down or drive more carefully. I appreciate these points may appear obvious, but they really do need to be continually reinforced.
Hopefully you’ve noted a pattern here. The organisation should set risk-based policies for travel logistics. Approved airlines and hotels should be baked into the travel booking process, preventing travellers from selecting non-approved options. Details of approved options should be included in destination guides to ensure travellers know what to do. Specific procedures should be covered in training to build awareness.
I’ll continue with the theme of developing robust Travel Safety and Security Programmes in the next article by focusing on medical and communications planning, amongst other considerations.
Thanks for reading.
The fifth article of a series focused on designing a robust and effective Travel Safety and Security Programme.
27 Nov 2023 · Read now
The fourth article of a series focused on designing a robust and effective Travel Safety and Security Programme.
20 Nov 2023 · Read now
The second article of a series focused on designing a robust and effective Travel Safety and Security Programme.
06 Nov 2023 · Read now
The first of a series of articles focused on designing a robust and effective Travel Safety and Security Programme.
30 Oct 2023 · Read now
Why your organisation will struggle to assist travellers during critical incidents and need to instead focus on empowering travellers through effective training.
16 Oct 2023 · Read now
Different techniques your organisation can implement to improve your approach to implementing travel restrictions.
09 Oct 2023 · Read now
Different approaches organisations can use to provide high quality advice to their travellers to help mitigate risk.
02 Oct 2023 · Read now
Approaches to planning for contingencies when travelling to higher-risk locations.
17 Jul 2023 · Read now
How to develop destination guides that empower your travellers to better manage risk and reduce the likelihood of traveller emergencies.
01 May 2023 · Read now