80% of travelers had concerns about safety abroad; but less than half research security issues pre-travel. 71% of senior executive travelers had medical problems abroad; but only 15% assess healthcare pre-travel. Nearly 1 in 3 trips abroad are to countries with higher risk ratings than the traveler's home country.
TREVOSE, PA. – International SOS, a leading medical and travel security services company, and Control Risks launch Travel Risk Map 2016 to help organizations better understand the risks in the markets where they operate and travel.
International SOS has published a Health Risk Map since 2010. The map was renamed to Travel Risk Map for 2016 to take into account the newly added travel security risk ratings. The industry’s first integrated medical and travel security risk map for 2016.
The Travel Risk Map displays each country’s medical risk rating and travel security risk rating. The result is a comprehensive overview of risks by destination to aid organizations and staff in their travel risk mitigation efforts.
An analysis of international business travel against the Travel Risk Map ratings found that nearly 1 in 3 trips abroad are to countries with a higher medical or security risk rating than the travelers’ home country.
Matt Bradley, Regional Security Director at International SOS, said: “Education and information – and, in some cases, training – are vital to helping employees understand and mitigate threats to their personal safety. Our comprehensive overview reveals that in 75% of countries the medical risk is assessed to be at a different level from the travel security risk. This range within individual countries highlights the complexities organizations face when preparing staff to travel abroad. Organizations are encouraged to review both medical and security issues when preparing their employees for travel and assignment abroad.”
A recent Ipsos Global Advisor study asked participants about their concerns and preparations when traveling abroad. The report found that while 8 in 10 travelers have felt their personal safety could be threatened while abroad, less than 4 in 10 travelers research crime at destination, neighborhoods to avoid, safety standards of public transport, or security features of their accommodation before they travel. The study also reported that while 71% of senior executive travelers have experienced a medical problem abroad; only 15% assess adequacy of local healthcare before traveling.
Dr. Myles Druckman, Senior Vice President of Medical Services at International SOS, said: “We created the Travel Risk Map to help travelers align their pre-trip preparations proportionately with the risks they may encounter in a particular location. Even in countries with a low medical risk rating and state of the art medical services, travelers may still need assistance with language or navigating an unfamiliar health care system – both of which can be significant barriers to obtaining care.”
Matt Bradley concluded: “The reality is there are risks everywhere in the world. Understanding what those risks are, and then taking appropriate precautions is the best way to support your staff, enable business growth and deliver on duty of care.”
What’s New: Travel Risk Map 2016
- Addition of travel security risk ratings to countries and regions. Countries and regional travel security risks are rated ‘Extreme’, ‘High’, ‘Medium’, ‘Low’, or ‘Insignificant’.
- There are variable levels of travel security risks within countries. Mexico, Egypt, India, and Ukraine are examples of generally ‘Medium’ travel risk ratings, which have higher risk ratings in specific regions with that country.
- Countries are assigned a medical risk rating of ‘Low’, ‘Medium’, ‘High’, ‘Very High’ or ‘Rapidly Developing Variable Risk’.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
