Assistance and protection for travellers: crisis measures

Companies are not alone in their duty to protect their employees. A host of players are involved in making business travel safer. Business travel agencies are the cornerstones of business travel, and they are obviously the most important players. at the heart of the systemThey hold the key information on itineraries and organise the validation circuit for journeys. "Everything is integrated. The employee fills in his mission order on our intranet, then his manager approves the trip, and the administrative department then takes care of the reservations with the FFT agency, all in conjunction with our assistance provider International SOS.says Arnaud Kalika, head of security at Meridiam. And if the country is at high risk, I receive an alert to make sure that all the measures have been taken."

In the event of a problem, the technological solutions offered by agencies or booking tool publishers play an active part in the security process by enabling travellers to be located on the basis of flight and hotel information. And this is true even in the case of off-channel bookings. "Our TripLink solution makes it possible to repatriate trips purchased directly from suppliers' websites.says Marine Rivoire, Travel Products expert at SAP Concur. We have also established links with third parties. For example, with Uber for BusinessWe recover the data at the end of the race, which is useful in the event of an alert in a city.

According to SAP Concur, more than nine out of ten travellers (91%) have shared their geographical location when travelling.

At the same time, these tools can also be used to communicate with travellers: "This can range from information messages about demonstrations in Paris to the triggering of a location plan in the event of an attack or an earthquakecontinues Marine Rivoire. In this context, push messages are sent by SMS and e-mail with a request for action on the part of the traveller: reply "OK" if you are safe or "Help" if you need assistance. The company's security department can then activate an assistance plan with its supplier.."

After all, no travel agency is going to be able to rescue a traveller in case of need. Depending on their size, companies involve several types of player in their organisation, whether they specialise in insurance and medical services, such as Europ Assistance or Mondial Assistance, or have an integrated model, such as International SOS, which adds a security dimension to its role as assistance provider thanks to its joint venture with Control Risks. Finally speakers with a more muscular profile These include Amarante, Anticip and SSF in France, and G4S and Securitas in the English-speaking world...

These companies, often founded by former military personnel or members of intervention forces, draw on their networks and experience in the field to making travel safer in high-risk areas. Bernard Jacquemart, SSF's Information Director, explains that a large part of his company's business is concentrated in the Sahel-Saharan zone: "SSF is a major player in the Sahel-Saharan region.This ranges from escorting people on their travels to designing and updating security plans. But the problems of violence are not limited to Africa. In Haiti too, we had to carry out evacuations on several occasions last year."

Read also: " Sensitive areas - Vigilance is the law" 

GardaWorld is the largest private security company in France, with 92,000 employees, and a partner of EuropAssistance. It is also part of this closed circle of players deployed in sensitive areas. Its field of action extends from passenger information - in particular with its subsidiary Crisis24Its online portal provides non-stop news - from making travel safer to crisis management. "In 2018, we also acquired NYA, which specialises in kidnapping."says Grégoire Pinton, the company's Global Head of Traveller Security Services.

In addition to the risk of terrorism, the kidnapping is one of today's major "trends", particularly in the Gulf of Guinea and in Latin America, a sub-continent that is home to 42 of the world's 50 most violent cities. At the very top of this chilling table, Mexico records an average of five kidnappings a day. "It rarely ends badly, reassures Arnaud Kalika, but it's a psychological shock. And it's not just in Mexico where travellers represent a financial windfall for criminals to exploit. This is also the case in Peru, Myanmar and Indonesia."

While there is no guarantee that it will be totally effective, professionals do recommend a few precautions to avoid incidents: look around you before getting in or out of the car, dress discreetly - female travellers should avoid wearing necklaces, because they provide a hold for muggers - pay attention in the street and don't be cut off from the world by headphones, always carry a little money with you so that you can give it out quickly and without resistance. Above all, without resisting.

However, even if they are armed to deal with critical situations, safety professionals make prevention their top priority. "The aim of a company like ours is for things to go well"says Grégoire Pinton. Like most of its colleagues, GardaWorld uses every possible means to inform departing travellers about the risks involved: e-learning courses, virtual exchanges via Skype and face-to-face meetings. In the same way, risk specialists take charge of implementing security measures upstream. "90 % of requests from our assistance centres relate to prevention"also notes Xavier Carn.

Among the questions on arrival, will the traveller go to the hotel by taxi or will an escort be required? Has hotel security been audited recently? Are there any current tensions in the country? Are there any specific risks in the area of the capital that the traveller will be visiting? Will the traveller be staying in an urban environment or not?

While the risks seem to have never been so high, technology is compensating to some extent for the horrors of geopolitical upheaval. In this respect, travellers' smartphones are transformed into a secure lifeline for travellers. Whether it's Anticip with its Travel Risk Management application, GardaWorld with Crisis Messenger, International SOS with Travel Tracker, Iremos with its Connect mass alert application or SSF with Locator, risk specialists have developed solutions that enable information or alert messages to be sent to travellers who, in return, can request assistance.