International SOS, the health and security risk services company, has highlighted the need for enhanced risk management for travellers and organisations.
The organisation's data has uncovered a 59% increase in international travel and a 48.4% increase in domestic travel in October 2023 as against the beginning of the year. These findings align with a recent report from The International Air Transport Association (IATA) that charts the resurgence of global travel.
According to IATA, global air traffic reached 97.3% of pre-COVID levels at the end of 2023. This trend is anticipated to continue into 2024 despite economic and political uncertainties in parts of the world.
Michael Rogers, Chief Security Analyst at International SOS said: “The resurgence in global travel comes at a time in which the travel security landscape is increasingly complicated by geopolitical events, natural disasters and other developments. More and more, organisations are finding comprehensive risk mitigation strategies for their mobile workforce to be of upmost importance.
“Today, more than ever, travellers need to remain informed of prevailing risks and attendant mitigation measures. Beyond geopolitical issues and natural disasters, emerging diseases, social unrest and evolving crime dynamics require that travellers practice vigilance.
"Across a series of concurrent and overlapping crises, International SOS observed a 16% increase in the volume of security and medical alerts issued to clients throughout January to November this year compared to the same period in 2022. The considerable increase illustrates both the evolving global security environment as well as value of timely and verified information and analysis as a key resource to ensure workforce safety.”
The impact of climate change, including extreme weather events, natural disasters and environmental changes also poses an additional layer of risk to global travel. Natural disaster-related reporting accounted for 20% of International SOS’ medical and security alert volume in July and August this year. This is a 5% increase compared to the same period last year. These months fall within the peak of hurricane and tropical cyclone season.
Rogers advised: “With climate change exacerbating existing travel risks, it is important for organisations to have robust and integrated health and security travel policies that safeguard employees from potential impacts of climate change during travels.
"Additionally, encompassing the ISO 31030 standard in organisations’ policies provides a framework to ensure preparedness for a changing travel security landscape and to be better placed to mitigate increasingly complex travel risks.”
