As the memory of the Mumbai attacks fades – it was almost six months ago, after all – have security concerns lessened? Has there been a longer-reaching impact on business travel, and should there have been?
Initially, the attacks most certainly instilled fear into companies deploying personnel overseas, and not just those travelling to the “Niger Deltas” of this world, but those executive-level travellers who frequently find themselves in hotels like the Oberoi-Trident and Taj Mahal Palace.
It became clear to me, here in Aberdeen, in the days following the attacks that incidents of this kind can happen anywhere, and not just in hotspots and war zones. Thanks to Mumbai, the veil of complacency that surrounds many a seasoned traveller was lifted – at least for a short time.
However, and pretty much in parallel with the attacks, the global economic downturn, in any case, led to a curtailment of non-essential travel, with web-conferencing and virtual communications coming to the fore as companies sought to cut costs.
The main impact of this curtailment has been at smart-suit executive level.
However, travel to the more dangerous areas of the world, and by engineers and drillers who work out in the oilfields on/offshore, appears to have been little reduced. Jeremy King, of travel management company ATP (Advanced Travel Partner), supports our view. He confirmed an immediate, but short-lived, downturn in all forms of business travel following the Mumbai attacks, and that recession has held back recovery.
That said, he reckons Aberdeen and its energy industry are bucking this trend.
King said: “As a company, we assist our clients to operate with safety in challenging working environments as diverse as Nigeria to Sakhalin and Iraq to Rio.
“We will not advise against travel, but furnish our clients with the information and advice they require to make an informed decision.
“Security concerns should not automatically deter from operations in any area and, provided the correct risk-mitigation measures are put in place and training provided, companies can embark upon and continue to reap the financial rewards of working internationally.
“As an industry, if the energy sector paid heed to all FCO advice about safe operating areas, vast swaths of business would be lost.
“Advisories against travel are frequently issued in reaction to global events, but as made evident by the April, 2009, unrest in Thailand, situations can change with little or no warning when travellers, both on business and pleasure, are already in-country.”
Should a situation arise in which your personnel have to exit a country fast, have you considered that their nearest exit route may be through a neighbouring border and not the international airport?
And even if you had this knowledge, did you provide your personnel with the necessary visa for that point of egress?
It is impossible to forecast all risk and mitigate against it in all its forms. However, much can be done, and can be as simple as proper planning in terms of pre-deployment, travel and crisis management, as well as the preparation of staff (for example, travel safety training), providing personnel with confidence in their own ability should a situation arise to test it.
Six months on from the attacks in Mumbai, a subconscious awareness of the threats to international travellers remains. And it is bolstered from time to time by events such as kidnappings in Nigeria, piracy around the Horn of Africa and unrest in the Far East.
However, peaks and troughs of interest in such matters at a corporate level do not make for a comprehensive and adequate policy vis-a-vis international travel safety and wider security policy.
Claire Fleming is corporate relations manager at the Aberdeen office of security consultancy AKE. For information on AKE country risk alerts, contact services.aberdeen@ake group.com