Business travel to high-risk destinations on the rise
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
New analysis by Collinson Group reveals a 52% (842,264) increase in the number of visits by UK business travellers to high-risk destinations overseas in the first half of 2015 compared to the same period a year earlier.
In the first half of 2015, business travellers made 2,477,105 visits to destinations that experienced level three security incidents, as identified by Collinson Group, compared to 1,634,840 a year earlier. Category three security incidents include attempted coups and terrorist attacks.
High-risk countries which have experienced level three security incidents include Nigeria, Tunisia, Pakistan, Ukraine, Turkey, Egypt and India. In the first half of 2015, a total of 41 countries registered level three incidents with Middle Eastern, North African and sub-Saharan African countries making up the vast majority.
According to the analysis of ONS Travelpac data, Tunisia saw the largest increase in business travel visits – up 362% in the first half of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014. At the same time Tunisia has also seen a steep rise in security risks, where terrorist activity gave rise to three level three alerts in the period January to June 2015, compared with zero for the same period in 2014.
Two other countries that have witnessed exponential growth in the number of business travellers have also experienced serious security incidents, from car bombs to air strikes: Egypt saw a 60% increase in business travel visits in the first six months of 2015 and Israel saw visits increase 41%. Both countries have experienced significant category three security incidents in the first half of the year. In addition, British business travellers made 2,852 visits to Pakistan in the first six months of this year, a country that ranks eighth in the world for the number of the highest risk security threats recorded globally in 2015.
Data from Collinson Group, whose 360 Assistance portal provides global security alerts for corporate travellers, reveals Yemen tops the list of countries experiencing the most serious level three security incidents (see below), with threats ranging across air strikes, car bombs and kidnapping. Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Syria make up the top five.
However, in an indication of the fast-changing nature of global events, a number of countries perceived as being traditionally less risky also received level three alerts in the first half of 2015. Denmark, France, Macedonia and the US, for instance, all saw level three incidents occur.
Table one: Largest percentage increase in UK overseas business travel H1 2014 versus H1 2015
Rank | Country | Business traveller visits H1 2014 | Business traveller visits H1 2015 | Change in business traveller visits H1 2014-H1 2015 | Percentage change 2014-2015 | Experienced level three threats in H1 2015 |
1 | Tunisia | 879 | 4,059 | 3,180 | 361.5% | x |
2 | Mexico | 3,695 | 13,222 | 9,527 | 257.9% | x |
3 | Lithuania | 31,759 | 61,978 | 30,219 | 95.1% | |
4 | Thailand | 9,442 | 15,326 | 5,884 | 62.3% | x |
5 | Egypt | 9,548 | 15,226 | 5,678 | 59.5% | x |
6 | Bulgaria | 48,116 | 69,071 | 20,955 | 43.6% | |
7 | Czech Republic | 81,981 | 117,249 | 35,268 | 43.0% | |
8 | Israel | 21,196 | 29,944 | 8,748 | 41.3% | x |
9 | Other Caribbean | 7,552 | 10,182 | 2,631 | 34.8% | |
10 | Irish Republic | 574,141 | 727,651 | 153,510 | 26.7% |
Source: Collinson Group analysis of ONS Travelpac Data
Table two: Change in top-level security alerts in the top 10 at-risk destinations, H1 2014 – H1 2015
Rank | Country | Number of level 3 alerts, H1 2014 | Number of level 3 alerts, H1 2015 | Change, 2014-2015 |
1 | Yemen | 6 | 22 | +267% |
2 | Iraq | 21 | 19 | -10% |
3 | Nigeria | 16 | 18 | +13% |
4 | Afghanistan | 5 | 15 | +200% |
5 | Syria | 9 | 13 | +44% |
6 | Somalia | 2 | 7 | +250% |
7 | Libya | 4 | 6 | +50% |
8 | Pakistan | 4 | 6 | +50% |
9 | South Sudan | 2 | 6 | +200% |
10 | Ukraine | 2 | 4 | +100% |
– | Top 10 countries | 71 | 116 | +63% |
Source: Collinson Group
Comments are closed.