It was great to see so many LATA members at the TRIP Group masterclass on travel risk management yesterday.
There were many thought-provoking sessions, covering topics on geopolitics and the travel risk landscape, personal safety, emergency response planning, traveller health and wellbeing, travel insurance, and accommodation and transportation safety.
Thank you to the TRIP Group for putting on this informative masterclass and to the speakers for their input and insights. We hope to see more members at the next event in December. Members can see more on future events and register for two complimentary tickets per company on the dedicated LATA page here.
Here is a summary of the key takeaways from the day.
MASTERCLASS TAKEAWAYS
Know where your people are – staff and customers. The data is there and available to be able to do this, businesses are just not using it. It’s possible to use tracking/GPS devices on cars or people but there are issues around GDPR and having individuals’ consent
Think of your own personal safety when you travel. It’s easy to forget this and assume everything is taken care of.
Consider your own age, gender, race, religion and sexual orientation. These may all impact how you behave in a particular location as well as how others behave towards you. This could have different impacts or consequences if travelling alone compared to if with colleagues or family members.
Plan for the ‘what ifs’
Research the trip thoroughly in advance and be prepared. If you are on your own, you are at your most vulnerable when you first arrive and look lost.
Ensure you have a way of communicating – mobile data or an e-Sim card
Be proactive in your preparations and you can avoid a lot of unfavourable situations.
Check the small print of your insurance policies. This applies for both business and individual policies. What is included, and is it sufficient? More importantly what is excluded and do you need it.
Transport and accommodation play a fundamental role in travel and the impact when it goes wrong shouldn’t be underestimated. Most risks occur when moving from one place to another so consider how this can be minimised and what can be implemented.
ISO31030 gives guidance on how to manage risk because of travel and is recommended to be read and analysed to see how it relates to an individual organisation. There is no ‘one approach fits all’.
Businesses have a duty of care as much as duty of responsibility. It’s imperative that a business has taken all reasonable measures and done its due diligence so that staff and customers are as safe as possible on any trip: a duty of care. Companies should also give staff and customers as much information as possible ahead of a trip so they can be prepared to the best of their ability and enabled to make their own reasonable and researched decisions when abroad: a duty of responsibility.
The health and wellbeing of travelling staff and customers is imperative. Give guidance for vaccinations and inform around specific local health risks.
When crisis planning, consider the best and worst case scenarios of an incident and the likely impact on the wider business. Planning for all eventualities is key so that a swift decision can be made and a fast response implemented. Companies should rehearse their crisis plans so they aren’t being put in place for the first time when it’s for real.
As you put together a travel risk management plan ask what the threats and risks are to your business. Threats are the potential source of danger, harm or undesirable outcome such as a natural disaster or conflict. Risks are the potential events and consequences along with their likelihoods, severity and impact.
The key message, shared by Lloyd Figgins, CEO of the TRIP Group, was that a travel risk plan doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming for a business to create. It just needs to be effective.
Thanks to TTG for joining the event too, and featuring online. You can read more here.