Do you know someone who lost his passport while on a trip? Or maybe it was their laptop or wallet. Was there anyone whose personal data was hacked while traveling? God forbid, has it ever happened to you?

There is always some risk associated with travel. The fact is almost everyone, even frequent travelers, have felt unsafe sometime or the other. So it makes perfect sense to be prepared before you embark on your next trip. When travel is for business, companies can also do a lot to make their employees feel safe. Yet, a lot depends on your own awareness and behaviour while on the road. Based on our experience as well as using inputs from few road warriors, here is a list of dos and don’ts to keep in mind during travel.

1. Know Your Destination

Read about the city you will be visiting. Get to know it’s crime rates and localities that are generally considered unsafe. Understand the local customs. And don’t forget to check up on the weather as well as any travel advisories or warnings issued by your government.

One of the best sources for information regarding international travel advisories is the US State Department travel advisory page. It is good if you have access to a travel management tool that gives personalized alerts and advisories for your destinations.

2. Secure Personal Items

When you are at the destination, unless absolutely required, do not carry any personal items or documents with you. Keep them locked in your hotel room safe. It is also a good idea to keep copies of important documents such as your passport. If you have valuables, ask the hotel reception for a deposit box.

Many of us are not aware of the typical storage options available at hotels. If you want to know, read this interesting article.

3. Be Careful About What You Eat And Drink

Sampling local cuisine is very much part of the joy of travel. But always find out what is on your plate before eating it. Ask someone if you are not sure. Drink responsibly. Alcohol not only impairs your judgment, too much of it can also make you vulnerable as a target for crime. Finally, always carry basic medicines with you, in case you unfortunately fall ill.

If you are wondering what medicines to carry on a travel, here is an advisory from the US CDC about how to pack smart for a healthy trip. And of course, ensure you have a suitable travel insurance.

4. Try To Blend In

Interact with the locals. Watch and learn how the locals do things. And don’t do stuff they consider offensive. Dress appropriately, but not necessarily in the local costumes. Try not to be too flashy, especially with jewelry.

Here are some fine pointers about how to blend in with the locals.

5. Carry Just What You Need

Do not carry too much money on your person. Take only what you may require. Everything else, keep locked up in your room safe. If you need to go to an ATM, use those located inside banks, shopping centers, hotel lobbies etc. Do it when there are people around. If you get mugged in spite of all precautions, don’t try to be a hero.

Read this fascinating article from Reader’s Digest on how muggers choose their targets and try to avoid those pitfalls.

6. Stay Connected

When you are traveling, it is important that you share your itinerary including hotel details with family, friends or colleagues and update them as often as you can. If you are traveling for work, always stay connected with the travel team in your company. Also ensure that you are familiar with the processes and tools to be used in case you need help during travel.

7. Be Cautious About How You Connect

Staying connected requires access to Internet. Always use trusted wi-fi networks like that of a workplace or your hotel. Avoid use of public wi-fi networks. If you have to, then be aware of the risks and try to use a VPN.

This article describes the risks of using a public wi-fi and how to stay safe if you have to use one.

Many companies do have robust travel risk management (TRM) programs to address traveler safety concerns. A TRM program is not just about policies, guidelines and awareness trainings. A robust TRM program also necessitates tools that provide travelers with contextual information & alerts. It requires capabilties that enable travel teams to understand where travelers are and to offer support when there is a need. The trip management feature in TCat is designed to do just that. If you want to know how, please do reach out to us.

 

Picture credit: Moshe Harosh from Pixabay

To a world that was increasingly starting to open up with travel across regional boundaries becoming more and more seam-less, the current COVID scenario has dealt a big blow. Travel has not just become difficult, but it is far riskier than ever before.

Travel restrictions are currently a universal measure and are intended to contain the spread of the virus. International borders are not fully open, and these are the times when we are forced to have a rethink of future travel options. Corporates need to proactively change policies, plans and make prudent decisions. The nature of the pandemic is at an unprecedented scale and needs appropriate safety measures to be taken. However, similar pandemic situations might repeat. What is needed is for businesses to have a fresh approach that prevents stagnation.

The Importance of Travel Risk Management
Corporates need to layout a travel risk management program that can help employees navigate the situation better. Travel risk management comprises of well thought and documented processes and steps that help to mitigate the disruption and risks connected to travel.

How to Manage Travel Risk
Travel risk management starts with a detailed analysis of the travel need. Whenever a travel need comes up the corporate shall analyze it based on a pre-determined framework. This framework will consider whether the

1. Proposed journey is critical for the business or is avoidable
2. Government advisories, regulations and other restrictions that impact the travel and traveller
3. Probability of a risk materializing during the travel
4. Impact to travel or the traveller, if the risk materializes
5. Availability of feasible and viable mitigation plans if the risk materializes
6. Traveller is fully aware and clear about risks and mitigation plans

Once the analysis is completed and the decision made, the next step is to facilitate the travel safely and successfully.

Role of a Travel Management Platform in Facilitating Safe Travel
A travel management platform is vital to facilitate safe business trips for employees. Such a system can direct the course of travel prior to, during and after the business trip. To deliver a safe trip, the system must have features that provide relevant information to all stakeholders to manage all phases of a trip.

Let us see what a travel management system shall do to manage risk during the various phases of a business trip.

Pre-Trip Features

Travel Risk Assessment Analysis

The travel management platform must aid in carrying out an overall travel risk analysis assessment. This would assist the management in making timely and proper decisions on the travel risks involved. The platform shall also provide various travel advisories and alerts to the travellers and other stakeholders. Such advisories shall be made available over multiple channels including mobile devices for easy access at all times and phases of the business trip.

Some examples of information that will facilitate travel risk assessment are:

1. Destination and transit country-specific travel advisories, safety, security, health alerts and other relevant information.
2. Destination city or town specific travel advisories, safety, security and health alerts
   Government and other regulators directions regarding the mode of travel, precautions to be considered before and during the travel.
3. Some of the other pre-trip features that shall be supported by the platform are cited below.

Capture of traveller details: Full information about traveller itinerary for the business trip shall be available in the platform. Data required to communicate with the traveller shall be available in the platform and this information will help to reach out to a possibly distressed traveller or his/her emergency contacts if the need arises.

Availability of Real-time Information: The traveller shall have access latest travel advisories, health alerts, risks associated with a particular destination, as and when such an event occurs at the destination.

In-Trip Features

Trip Monitoring & Safety Tracking

To effectively ensure a safe trip for the employees, an organization needs to be able to pinpoint their employee’s locations anywhere in the world at any time, predicting the risks in those locations, and initiating contact with other staff members at the location to render immediate assistance if the need arises.

When the trip is in progress, the platform should be in a constant risk & safety monitoring mode, enabling the corporate to track the situation as it evolves on a 24×7 basis. A real time dashboard that displays latest travel advisories and alerts for various geo-locations where employees are or will be in a few days, shall enable the corporate to easily locate, communicate and provide support to employees in a risky situation.

Communication Channels

The capability of the platform to be in touch with travellers during an emergency situation is a mandatory requirement. The system shall be capable of using multiple methods to locate and communicate with the traveller.

Once located, the corporate should be able to facilitate bi-directional communication between traveller and the corporate. The various channels that the platform shall support include e-mail, SMS, social media, and mobile app-based chat tools.

Linking Co-Travelers

Linking travellers at a specific destination so that they can coordinate among themselves with ease is a desirable feature of the platform. Buddy or Fellow traveller information can be cross-linked and made easily available to travellers.

Post Trip Features

The post-trip features will include feedback collection and collation from travellers and preparation of analysis reports. This information shall act as the basis for review and improvement of travel risk program.

Conclusion

Technology has a greater role to play in the post COVID world scenario and travellers will insist on systems, services and measures that ensure safety while going on a business trip. Travel Management platform shall enable the corporate to facilitate a safe trip for its employees.

By Team Catalyca

For more information on Travel Risk Management using Catalyca and TCAT, please write to hello@catalyca.com.