Corporate Travel Destinations

Lately it seems that a lot of countries–including parts of the United States–are suffering from bad report cards on crime safety. Mexico may be suffering more than most with the reports of drug cartel violence and kidnappings. However, if a traveler uses common sense in all situations–and is aware of his or her surroundings–the environment becomes much friendlier.

First Step to Safety–Leave Valuables at Home

You don’t need a diamond necklace on a trip to Cancun even if others in your group have told you they are bringing theirs. They may get theirs stolen but you won’t. The same goes for identification. Get a passport holder that stays close to your body on an elastic strap, but only take the identification you need–you likely don’t need to bring your social security card. Continue reading »

Whether your conference attendees are going to Las Vegas or Moscow, you will need to provide lots of information for them regarding health and safety. While a great source of up-to-date information is the United States State Department, you should also have a counterpart in the host country who can give you the details of the culture your travelers are entering.

Safety

In general, there are overall safety tips for all travelers. Leave valuables at home, keep your money and credit cards close to your body in a traveler’s pack, don’t bring any more identification than is necessary (and for the love of Pete leave your social security card home), among others. However, make sure your attendees know what areas of the town and country are unsafe, where hospitals and police stations are, and equipment them with emergency numbers.

Health

If they are traveling out of their hometowns, states, or the country, they need to make sure their insurance will cover doctor and hospital stays if there should be an accident or illness. They should also be well advised on pre-trip preparations as well as where the local health clinics are that serve outsiders. Many foreign countries actually have American hospitals. Make sure they have phone numbers and maps.

In general, while you are not responsible for the safety and health preparations of your client’s travelers, you want to provide a thorough service. However, the best reason for preparing all of this for them is that you care. Your client will remember that.

On any given day, you can see evidence of just one more way that the H1N1 or so called Swine Flu has changed travel. Any agent who doesn’t wonder where it will stop is not very informed. While the answer to this question remains open and changes often, one thing is for certain: no one wants to go to a foreign country for corporate travel and be quarantined.

It is more than understandable that countries use quarantines to stop the spread, especially in places like China, where many of the people live in close quarters. However, H1N1 pops up in various places anyway. The May 11, 2009 issue of “Travel Weekly” printed an amusing sidebar about all the strange things people have done in response to the scare, especially the World Health Organization (WHO). They not only changed their definition of “pandemic” to me less definite (?), but even more peculiar one of their representatives suggested that there should be a contest to see if someone can come up with a “more user-friendly name” for the disease.

If you are expecting an answer here to the question of how your job as planner will change over the coming influenza months, you will be disappointed. However, it can be said with confidence that you will need to stay abreast of all H1N1 developments as well as keep yourself updated continuously on how foreign countries–as well as the U.S.–are handling incoming visitors. The last thing you want is to send a large group of people from a prominent company to a foreign country, only to have them cooped up until after their event is over.

Be informed and be successful.