Business travel risk insights and solutions

Understanding today’s business travel risk management landscape will help organizations support and prepare business travelers through careful planning and technology solutions to drive better travel experiences and outcomes from the business travel investment.

Business travel risk management outlook

Business travelers should feel supported by their employer, whether traveling domestically or internationally, as no matter the destination they may be faced with unfamiliar environments which may have varying levels of risk. International SOS, a leader in international health and security risk management, predicts that:

1. Pandemic-disrupted activities will reach an increased degree of stability by 2023.
2. COVID-19, long COVID, and mental health will be the main cause of employee productivity disruption.
3. The infodemic will increase the complex nature of protecting people.
4. Duty of care obligations will change with new health and safety measures, employee expectations, and regulatory compliance.
5. Organizations risk being caught off-guard by rapidly changing security environments, as civil disorder and geopolitical volatility rise above pre-pandemic levels.
6. Climate change will increase the frequency and impact of climate-sensitive hazards, such as extreme weather events.

What remains certain is that prevention is better than a cure. Awareness of potential risks and plans to mitigate them is important for traveler health, safety and well-being, confidence, and business continuity. Organizations should review their travel risk policies and tools to determine if they are still fit for purpose. Having the right technology solutions is important to support effective risk management policies to alert and inform impacted travelers and travel stakeholders, which is why working with a trusted travel advisor will be vital to support the overall risk management strategy.

The objective is to be prepared for scenarios that could pose a risk to traveling employees, to ensure they can travel with confidence knowing that their safety, security, and wellbeing are being considered at all points of their trip.

Business travel duty of care

An ISOS 2022 risk outlook report reveals that:

• 48% of organizations can communicate with their workforce during critical events
• 39% have access to location-specific health information
• 34% have access to location-specific security information

The international organization for standardization (ISO) has created a framework to guide organizations in managing travel risks. The ISO 3130 allows travel risk management adoption across a broad base of businesses of all sizes, including commercial businesses, not-for-profit, and government. ISO states, “Through more effective travel risk management, organizations will see fewer incidents occur while abroad, resulting in a better experience for the traveler.”

Corporate Travel Management (CTM) invested heavily in duty of care solutions for customers and understands the immediacy, reliability, and 24-hour nature of this requirement, working with Riskline to provide travel risk intelligence and real-time alert messaging before and during travel.

Services and technology offered by CTM are in-house and customizable to your needs and include:

• Threshold management of senior executives traveling on the same itinerary. Receive dedicated alerts and reports when flight thresholds are exceeded.
• Requested “at risk” destinations to provide timely, accurate advice to your employees.
• The CTM Risk Hub supports visibility and understanding of emerging travel risks and disruptions across the globe, and travel requirements such as visa, vaccination, and health requirements.
• Identification of at-risk suppliers – CTM will agree on the criteria for excluding suppliers from the booking program, in line with your internal risk assessment protocols.

In-transit information from CTM Traveler Tracker and CTM Risk Alerts, to guarantee location reporting and contact throughout the direction of the trip.

Business travel risk management plan

CTM works with organizations to develop emergency management plans that incorporate legal and operational commitments to support safe and monitored travel. CTM incorporates an organization’s emergency crisis planning, forms of contact, priority items, ownership, and timeline, along with accountability triggers to action the plans. For many customers, CTM has established feeds to third-party risk management providers such as International SOS and can implement them as required.

CTM’s SVP Customer Success, April Wheeler says, “We are here to partner with our customers and support them in their risk management plans. Traveler tracking is just one piece in which CTM has technology solutions to support risk management plans. We can show customers where their travelers are or provide CTM alerts to keep travelers up to date on travel risks as they happen. But risk management goes beyond that, where customers need to be thinking about risk mitigation, evacuations, and health for example.”

Risk management solutions

Risk management solutions are designed to help organizations meet their duty of care obligations while providing business travelers with the confidence they need to make business travel safer, more productive, and enjoyable. CTM provides a suite of risk management solutions to customers, enabling organizations to identify risk, track, and communicate with their travelers.

Accessible via the CTM Portal, CTM’s Risk Hub allows customers to download country risk summaries that provide up-to-date risk data supported by Riskline. CTM can tailor a risk management solution to meet specific organization objectives, from traveler tracking tools to SMS risk notifications, pre-trip risk assessments, and mobile booking technology.

In a post-COVID environment, travel is highly dynamic. As a result, businesses are increasingly focused on traveler preparation and pre-trip intelligence to ensure their travelers can travel with maximum safety and confidence, and get the best value out of their trip. These factors will be integral to the overall performance of a travel program in the future and demonstrate a return on travel investment.