RiskXtraDecember2018

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RISKXtra
Whether it be the
desire to visit new
commercial markets,
current global
operations or new
locations, most of us
will be bitten by the
travel bug at some
point in our lives.
Unfortunately, many
travellers – regardless
of motive and
financial or scheduling
considerations – will
acquiesce to a fear
that prevents them
from reaching their
destination. Here,
Matthew Porcelli
focuses on the
security measures that
need to be put in
place (and always
borne in mind) to
quell that fear
Matthew Porcelli MA CPP
MSAJS: Security Manager at
Harvard Protection Services
and a Member of ASIS
International Travel Security:
The C-Suite to Tourist Spectrum
Global and homeland threats to one’s
safety and security have been an evolving
conundrum since the first recorded act of
terrorism occurred. This was perpetrated by The
Sicarii, a Jewish terrorist organisation founded
in the First Century with the goal of
overthrowing Roman rule in the Middle East.
The old adage “One man’s terrorist is another
man’s freedom fighter” is often used as a jaded
scapegoat to try and justify terrorist acts and
the inevitable casualties that follow.
Furthermore, criminal acts against travellers
run parallel with terrorist intentions.
Regardless of motive or justification, victims
– whether collateral damage or not – are either
chosen or in the wrong place at the wrong time.
People will travel or seek to journey to new
locations. There’s no stopping this activity.
Businessmen/women and tourists will continue
to journey as long as there are means to
venture to their chosen destination. Much like
an unwanted appendage, though, threats to the
traveller(s) will be following vigilantly.
Fortunately, travel security professionals and
co-ordinators can be as close to the traveller as
a passport. The $64,000 question is this… Like
a passport, will those security professionals
remain with the traveller on his or her journey,
or will they be – as is mostly the case – ‘locked
away’ and out of site?
The C-Suite traveller
Global businesses are the catalyst for travel
and the very lifeblood of economics, but the
upper management of Fortune Global 500
companies, for example, often overlook their
most prized asset: their employees.
Anyone can converse via Skype or a webcam.
However, a face-to-face meeting orchestrated
from the ‘mothership’, whether with branch
offices or manufacturing bases, boosts work
morale and helps in securing new business.
When a company’s Board of Directors, the
CEO, the CFO or the project leader needs to
travel thousands of miles to another continent,
the mindset usually focuses more on the cost of
that occurrence and the perceived return on
investment. Although the latter is pragmatic in
business acumen terms, the safety and security
of the traveller (ie the employee) also needs to
be carefully factored into the budget.
Chief Security Officers (CSOs),
proprietary/contract security forces and
Security Operations Centres function together
to monitor the ‘asset’ (ie the business traveller)
prior to and during travel and then upon that
member of staff’s return home. Many
companies have the luxury of retaining all three
force multipliers. However, some choose to
operate on a skeleton crew mentality and adopt
an ‘aftermath business continuity’ approach.
Realistically, money cannot be spent
frivolously or outside of a company budget.
However, the organisation’s Security
Department must have a seat at the corporate
table with those whom it’s actively protecting.
The objective here is the integration of security
procedure within the C-Suite mentality and the
capacity to offer peace of mind.
Once it has been decided that a business trip
will commence and the dates and
accommodation details have been finalised, the
security consultant(s) or CSO must then begin
to initiate travel security Best Practice
procedures. There are instances where security
professionals need to be consulted prior to the
choice of the destination. That said, if a base of
operations is already established in a certain
country, advance team security practices would
have started or otherwise have been planned
prior to the construction of the facility.
Moreover, documented security procedure will
also be in place.
The trick here is not to reinvent the wheel,
but rather to polish it.
The tourist traveller
What makes the C-Suite traveller so different
from the lone tourist or a tourist group is that
the latter doesn’t always have the financial
means to travel on the safest routes or reside in
the safest locations. Tourists often act as their
own security co-ordinators and make do with
those resources made available to them at the
best price.
One may see a similarity of travel security
Best Practice within private tourism. However,
it’s important to be a realist: an individual is
only as safe as he or she allows themselves to
be. Nine times out of ten, the tourist is
distracted and mentally separated from his or
her surroundings.
Travellers don’t have to dress in a tailored
suit or wear expensive clothing to be a target.
Criminal acts, extortion, kidnappings and
terrorism are not always predicated on the
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