Representative ImageThe U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict has turned duty of care from a corporate travel buzzword into a real-time operational test. After the escalation that began in late February 2026, major Gulf hubs including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha were disrupted, thousands of flights were cancelled, and governments scrambled to help stranded citizens. More than 20,000 flights were cancelled in the early days of the crisis, with travellers stuck in airports, hotels and even on cruise ships with little clarity on when routes would reopen.
That chaos is exactly where travel agents, travel advisors and travel management companies have been forced to prove their value. In practice, duty of care has meant more than sending alerts. It has included locating travellers, rerouting them through alternate hubs, securing hotel nights, arranging overland border transfers, monitoring official advisories, explaining insurance exclusions, and in some cases lining up charter options when commercial capacity disappeared. Industry guidance from ASTA, the American Society of Travel Advisors, has emphasised constant monitoring of government advisories, proactive communication, and helping clients understand that many standard policies do not cover war-related losses.
Among the named agencies reported to be actively helping clients was Life Is Better Traveling, where Washington-based advisor Melanie Rodriguez helped clients already in the region. Rodriguez, drawing on experience with high-risk travel, used early warnings from her industry network to urge one traveller in Riyadh to leave before the airspace situation worsened; that traveller made it onto a commercial flight to Paris. For another client stranded in Doha, Rodriguez explored contingency plans that included ground transfer to Riyadh for a possible private aircraft option, and even a long overland route to Jordan if Saudi access closed. Her role was not simply booking air tickets; it was scenario planning under extreme uncertainty.
The Suite Sojourn, led by Urvshi Marwah, also emerged in reporting as a hands-on example of duty of care. Marwah had a sizable base of clients holding UAE Golden Visas and was helping some evacuate from Dubai. Her approach combined practical logistics with disciplined communication: stick to objective facts, use airline and government advisories, and avoid overstating whether a destination is “safe” or “unsafe.” In a crisis environment flooded with rumour and emotional decision-making, that kind of evidence-based client counselling is itself a form of traveller protection.
Other advisors were doing the less visible, relentless work of rerouting. Travel Market Report said Holly Rafferty of Holly’s Vacations rerouted a client returning from Thailand whose trip home via Dubai collapsed; instead of waiting, she secured an alternative routing through Manila and New York. Laurence Pinckney of Zenbiz Travel rebooked a group returning from India away from the UAE and onto Air India. These examples show how duty of care often begins with speed: the advisor who moves fastest before capacity disappears may be the one who gets the traveller home.
At the larger end of the market, ALTOUR stood out. Dr. John M. Rose, ALTOUR’s chief risk advisor, describing rerouting clients through Turkey, moving significant numbers into Oman for onward departures, and even using private charters through ALTOUR Air when commercial options were too limited. That matters because Oman became one of the practical escape valves in this crisis, as flights from Muscat were sometimes more accessible than departures from Dubai or Abu Dhabi. In other words, the stronger the agency’s risk infrastructure and local partnerships, the more meaningful its duty-of-care capability became.
Corporate travel programs were under the same pressure. Some companies leaned on American Express Global Business Travel, Egencia, and risk partners such as Crisis24 or ISOS to locate travellers, open group chats, coordinate extractions to Oman or Cairo, and shut down future travel through Middle East hubs. The results were uneven. Some buyers praised coordinated support, while others said assistance was reactive rather than proactive. That gap is important: the crisis showed that duty of care is only as strong as the integration between the employer, the TMC, the security partner, and the traveller’s own willingness to act quickly.
The 2026 Middle East crisis shifted the focus from "theoretical safety" to "operational survival." For travelers and corporations, the following takeaways represent a new standard for navigating high-risk global environments.
1. Active vs. Passive Support
From alerts to actions. True "Duty of Care" is no longer just sending a notification that a flight is cancelled; it is the manual work of securing scarce hotel rooms and organising ground transport when planes aren't flying. It’s the difference between being told there is a problem and having someone actively solve it for you.
2. Navigating Insurance Gaps
The "Act of War" reality check. Most travellers don't realize that standard insurance often excludes conflicts and war-related losses. To avoid being left with the bill, travellers and companies must prioritise Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) policies and stay hyper-aware of what their fine print actually covers during a geopolitical crisis.
3. Information Integrity
Facts, not opinions. In a high-stress environment, "safety" is a loaded word. The most effective advisors ignore rumors and avoid giving personal reassurances. Instead, they provide disciplined, evidence-based updates from official government and aviation sources to keep decisions grounded in reality.
4. Systemic Synergy
Connected, not siloed. Safety protocols fail when the travel agency, security firm, and corporate office aren't synchronized. The best results come from "integrated" programs where intelligence and booking power are linked, ensuring that when a security threat is identified, the logistics to move the traveler are already in motion.
The broader lesson is that duty of care in the Middle East now means active crisis management, not passive policy compliance. The disruption has been large, with tens of thousands stranded and regional aviation repeatedly destabilised. The advisors and TMCs that stood out were the ones that combined real-time intelligence, supplier access, alternate routing creativity, overland planning and blunt client communication. In this conflict, the best travel agents did not just manage itineraries. They managed risk, options and calm.
