Long confined to the private sphere, the phenomenon of the sharing economy has for some years now been making inroads into the world of business travel. Players such as Airbnb and Uber have launched specific offers for business travellers and travel managers. While the apostles of the sharing economy have taken a step - or more - in the direction of businesses, the latter have not really taken the same approach. The "Share Economy for Business Travel"published by International SOS shows that the companies concerned have not yet taken adequate measures to regulate the use of platforms such as Airbnb or Uber. 40% of travellers say they do not know whether their organisation considers these services to be safe and reliable. This uncertainty is quite understandable, given that according to the same study 75% of organisations have not no clearly defined policy to regulate the use of these services...
a structured approach to risk management
However, the collaborative economy has now gone beyond the epiphenomenon stage. It's a fact, two out of five travellers use services such as Uber or Airbnb during their business trips abroad, according to International SOS. The authors of the study are therefore calling for more thought and, above all, action to tackle this problem: " Employers sending their staff on international assignments need to be aware of the law in force in the destination country, the risk profile of shared economy services compared with traditional services, and above all refer to their duty to protect towards their employees "says Steve Bell, Partner at Herbert Smith Freehills. a structured approach to risk management ". An analysis shared by Charline Gelin, Security Manager at International SOS and Control Risks: " The use of shared economy services may be appropriate in some places, but not everywhere. A number of factors need to be taken into account when assessing the appropriateness of these services: a travel policy with a one-size-fits-all approach to these aspects will not enable you to meet your obligations to protect your travellers. ".
