Travel risk management: Are you ready for a crisis?

Introduction

This article will explain how to manage business travel risks and potential crises. This article will discuss the management and containment a crisis in relation to travel managers and travellers. This article aims to increase your awareness and ability to manage crisis situations. It will also help you improve the efficiency of your business travel.

This article will discuss myths and strategies in travel risk management. It will also provide options for you to immediately improve or compare your travel risk management system with your travel managers.

A crisis is something that you don’t have a plan or are not prepared for. It can also be a combination of several events that create a crisis. Even if you have a strategy and a plan, any events or problems that happen are just an incident.

Crisis Management/Leadership

First, we need to understand the differences between leadership and crisis management. What is more important, which one?

The management of crisis situations involves the ability to respond to events that could threaten your business, travel plans or travellers. You follow the event’s lead and take actions, plans and decisions.

However, crisis leadership is about anticipating and managing the consequences of events or issues that could impact your business and business travel activities. Management is part of leadership, but your involvement and actions will lead to the desired outcomes. This is in contrast to a passive wait-and-see approach that can be used for crisis management.

Although it is less commonly practiced, crisis leadership is one of the most important in terms of outcomes and risk reduction and impact. This session will teach you that crisis leadership is more important than management.

Myths

Many myths and half-truths surround crisis, disruption, and threats in the travel management industry. Many of these misinformations have been spread by travellers, media, travel managers and friends, as well as “experts” such as family members.

Many planners and travellers are focused on terrorist acts. You have very little chance of being directly affected or exposed by terrorist acts. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t consider it a threat, but it shouldn’t be a major concern in your plans and processes. Motor vehicle accidents are often overlooked by almost everyone. They are more common, can be devastating for travellers, and are not usually covered in company travel management departments.

Travel managers and travelers must be educated, prepared and have support plans in place for any potential event that could delay, disrupt, or harm them or their business.