Business travel has changed rapidly in recent years, with organisations facing a wider mix of threats from geopolitical instability and health crises to cyber risk and environmental disruption. As global operations expand into higher-risk environments, the travel risk manager has become indispensable, sitting at the intersection of security, compliance, and duty of care to protect travellers whilst enabling business continuity.
Since 2020, the profession has evolved in response to the pandemic and escalating geopolitical tensions. Today’s travel risk manager acts as the strategic guardian of the mobile workforce, identifying, assessing, and mitigating risk before, during, and after trips, balancing operational efficiency with traveller safety.
The daily work of a travel risk manager encompasses several critical domains:
Aligning travel risk management practices with international standards like ISO 31030:2021 is essential, as it provides a systematic framework that enhances organisational compliance and effectiveness.
An effective travel risk management programme requires methodical planning and cross-functional collaboration. It should cover the full travel lifecycle (before, during , after) whilst remaining flexible enough to adapt to fast-changing circumstances.
The foundation of any travel risk management programme lies in accurate risk assessment. A travel risk manager must evaluate multiple threat categories across destinations:
Environmental, natural disasters, climate events, infrastructure resilience, seasonal planning, alternative routing, emergency supplies
Cyber/Technical Data security, surveillance, communications infrastructure, Secure devices, VPN protocols, communication procedures
This categorisation enables travel risk managers to develop tailored mitigation strategies for each journey. BCD Travel's white paper on travel risk management includes case studies demonstrating how major organisations implement these frameworks in practice.
Effective policies provide the guardrails within which business travel operates. A travel risk manager must craft documents that are comprehensive yet practical, addressing:
These policies must balance security requirements with operational agility. Overly restrictive policies may be ignored or circumvented, whilst insufficient controls leave organisations exposed to both physical risks and legal liabilities.
Modern travel risk managers leverage sophisticated technology platforms to maintain visibility and control across global operations. These systems, when effectively implemented, can provide reassurance to organisational leaders and security teams that they are equipped to respond swiftly and effectively to emerging threats.
The effectiveness of these technologies depends heavily on traveller compliance and data accuracy. TravelPerk's guide to travel risk management programmes emphasises the importance of user-friendly systems that employees actually utilise rather than bypass.
Technology alone cannot substitute for human analysis. A skilled travel risk manager interprets raw data within broader geopolitical and operational contexts. This requires:
Intelligence gathering from open-source materials, security networks, and on-the-ground assets to understand evolving threats beyond headline news. Pattern recognition that identifies emerging risks before they escalate into critical incidents. Scenario planning that anticipates potential crisis developments and prepares response protocols accordingly.
Despite thorough preparation, incidents inevitably occur. The measure of an effective travel risk manager often lies in crisis response capability rather than prevention alone.
When crises strike, structured response protocols enable rapid, coordinated action:
The 2017 Manchester terrorist attack case study demonstrates how rapid traveller location and communication protocols can make the difference between chaos and a controlled response during mass casualty events.
Complex situations often exceed internal capabilities, requiring engagement with external security specialists. Travel Safety & Journey Management services provide the expertise, local knowledge, and resources necessary to manage high-risk movements and emergency extractions.
These partnerships should be established during peacetime rather than in the middle of a crisis. A travel risk manager must vet providers, understand their capabilities, and integrate them into response plans before incidents occur.
Technology and policies prove worthless if travellers lack the awareness and skills to utilise them effectively. Progressive travel risk managers invest heavily in building a security-conscious culture.
Effective training encompasses multiple formats and audiences:
Security Magazine's best practices guide emphasises that training must be engaging and relevant to achieve genuine behavioural change rather than mere compliance.
Beyond individual traveller preparation, the travel risk manager must develop institutional resilience through:
Regular simulation exercises test crisis response procedures and identify capability gaps. Knowledge management systems capture lessons from incidents and near-misses. Cross-functional collaboration ensures alignment between security, human resources, legal, and operational teams. Leadership engagement, securing executive support and resources for the travel risk programme.
The legal landscape surrounding corporate travel has tightened considerably, with organisations facing potential liability for failing to adequately protect employees. The travel risk manager serves as the primary guardian against these exposures.
Duty of care represents both a moral imperative and a legal requirement. Organisations must take reasonable steps to protect employees from foreseeable harm. As discussed in GBTA's analysis of duty of care, this obligation extends across the entire travel lifecycle.
Failure to meet these obligations can result in:
Demonstrating compliance requires meticulous record-keeping. A travel risk manager must maintain:
Risk assessments documenting the rationale for approving or restricting travel. Traveller acknowledgements confirming receipt of briefings and acceptance of security protocols. Incident reports capture response actions and decision-making processes. Training records proving that employees received appropriate preparation. Policy reviews evidencing regular updates aligned with evolving threats and regulations.
Effective travel risk managers adopt a data-driven approach to programme evaluation and enhancement. Success metrics must capture both outcomes and process quality.
Quantitative measures provide objective assessments of programme effectiveness:
However, quantitative data alone present an incomplete picture. The absence of incidents may reflect effective prevention or be a matter of fortunate circumstances.
Balanced evaluation incorporates qualitative insights:
Mesh Payments' discussion of essential strategies highlights how leading organisations integrate these metrics into continuous improvement cycles.
The travel risk manager's role continues to evolve in response to shifting global dynamics. Several emerging challenges demand attention in 2026 and beyond.
Extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and resource scarcity increasingly affect travel safety. Destinations previously considered low-risk now face flooding, wildfires, or infrastructure collapse. Travel risk managers must integrate climate projections into long-term planning and develop protocols for environmental emergencies.
The multipolar world order creates unpredictable security environments. Trade tensions, sanctions regimes, and diplomatic disputes can rapidly transform stable destinations into high-risk zones. Continuous monitoring and scenario planning become essential capabilities.
Whilst technology enables sophisticated risk management, it also creates dependencies. Cyberattacks, communications blackouts, or data breaches can cripple traveller-tracking and crisis-response systems. Travel risk managers must develop analogue backup procedures and cybersecurity protocols.
The psychological impact of high-risk travel and prolonged deployments is increasingly recognised. Travel risk managers must expand their duty of care perspective beyond physical security to encompass mental health support, stress management, and post-incident counselling.
Travel risk management cannot operate in isolation. The most effective programmes integrate seamlessly with broader organisational security capabilities, including physical security, information protection, and business continuity planning.
This integration ensures consistent risk appetite across domains, efficient resource allocation, and coordinated responses during complex incidents that affect multiple security disciplines. For organisations operating in particularly challenging environments, the travel risk manager may work closely with specialists providing operational support and embedded security personnel.
Cross-functional collaboration amplifies programme effectiveness:
Regular engagement with these stakeholders builds institutional buy-in and ensures the travel risk programme receives necessary resources and executive attention.
As the profession matures, travel risk managers increasingly pursue formal qualifications and certifications. Industry bodies offer credentials in security management, crisis response, and risk assessment that provide both knowledge and professional credibility.
Continuous learning proves essential given the dynamic threat landscape. Effective practitioners engage with:
Professional associations provide networking, information sharing, and best-practice guidance. Industry conferences offering insights into emerging threats and technological solutions. Academic research examining the psychology of risk perception and decision-making under stress. Peer networks enabling confidential discussion of challenges and lessons learned.
The travel risk manager's role has evolved from administrative oversight to strategic leadership, requiring expertise across security, intelligence, crisis management, and compliance. As organisations navigate an increasingly volatile world, those who invest in comprehensive travel risk management programmes protect both their people and their operational resilience. Alma Risk provides the intelligence, expertise, and global capabilities organisations need to manage travel risks effectively, from pre-departure planning through crisis response and beyond.
