Travel Risk Management

In the past few years, I’ve had to learn a lot of new terms and acronyms such as TMC, FBT, PNR, Duty of Care, TRM, and so many others. It seems that the travel industry, much like the security industry and others, love its acronyms. For someone new to the industry it makes you feel like you need an interpreter when speaking with other professionals.

For me, Duty of Care is probably the most significant term of all. In my opinion, it means taking care of your people (employees, students, clients, etc.), and making sure they know the risks involved with traveling. For me, the most important aspect of Duty of Care is providing the traveler with a way of communicating and requesting assistance in case a problem or crisis occurs. I am aware that there are legal definitions related to Duty of Care and that all types of companies and organizations have been quick to ensure they have a program in place, but how effective are those programs?

The most significant concern that travel, risk and security managers have is what are they going to do when their people are in trouble? Who can they turn to for advice? Who’s going to providemedical assistance? What will it cost? Travel insurance is great, but what does your policy really cover and what exclusions are in place?

Business travelers need to feel confident that their company or organization is going to assist them in every possible way. Students and their families need to know that they are going to receive help from their school.

In today’s unpredictable world, the risks posed by travel are too numerous to count. Destinations that were once considered low risk aren’t that way anymore. Organizations and individuals should ask themselves a couple of important questions:

• Who am I going to call and who’s going to help me when I have a problem or an emergency?
• Who’s going to help me get home safe?

Take a close look at your organization’s Travel Risk Management program and whether it gives you the peace of mind to travel with the confidence that someone ‘has your back’.