Armed with knowledge, you can still travel safely

By Betty Stark

The terrorist attack in Mumbai, India, last November sent a jolting wake-up call to frequent business travelers. The siege that killed almost 200, including a Chicago-based sales executive from Madison’s TomoTherapy Inc., was highly organized and targeted to maximize visibility and impact. Some call it India’s September 11.

Well-coordinated and deadly assaults with AK-47s, grenades and fires erupted in waves over the course of three days at scattered Mumbai locations popular with international visitors.

Two famous hotels, the iconic Taj Mahal Palace and Towers near the Gateway of India, and the Oberoi-Trident at Nariman Point were hotspots. Both are favored by the global business community, and restaurants at each are on many power brokers’ A-list for deal-making breakfasts and lunches. These restaurants, and others, were targeted by the terrorists.

Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, is India’s most multinational city, its humming financial and entertainment center. Rising rapidly in recent years, the city attracts corporate travelers seeking global opportunities in manufacturing, finance, medicine, service, entertainment and technology.

Though it seemed to come without warning, Indian police officials acknowledged that they were alerted about a month in advance that an attack might be imminent. Their response at the time was to tighten security in the city of more than 18 million, particularly at airports, train stations and hotels in the bustling business district.

Unfortunately, it is reported, the alerts were relaxed about a week before the terrorist attacks, in part because of the added expense and because the heightened screening procedures at hotels were deemed unsettling to guests during the city’s peak travel season.

Close on the heels of the Mumbai attacks, Bangkok, Thailand, surfaced as the next global hotspot. Air travelers were prevented from exiting the city when political protesters occupied two major airports, effectively shutting down international air travel in to and out of that major Asian city for several days. A number of travelers from the Lodi area were among those stranded.

Then, Athens and other cities throughout Greece were the focus of days of riots and strikes, including cancellations of domestic and international flights by that country’s largest carriers, Olympic and Aegean.

All of this points to something we have known since September 11, 2001. The brutally unexpected can happen anywhere, domestically and internationally, and can impact any one of us who happen to be in that place at that time. The question it raises is this: What can travelers do to gain a modicum of safety in an increasingly unsafe world? Forgive me for trotting out this old saw, but once again, knowledge is power.

First and foremost, know your destination. Pre-trip preparation should include more than just knowing the location of your hotel, your client’s office and the best restaurants in town. Before you travel to a destination for the first time, review current local news. It will help you get the lay of the land and be alert to potential trouble hot spots.

But don’t stop there! Do this again before making a return visit, to update on what conditions might have improved or, more importantly, worsened.

Look for links to almost all major newspapers and other primary news sources in the world at Kideon Media-link (http://www.kidon.com/media-link/index.php). If your company is heavily involved in international travel, look into signing on to one of the travel intelligence services for destination information and pre-trip briefings.

For the latest official risk warnings and statements from the U.S. State Department, visit (http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/safety/safety_1180.html). Several private firms provide safety training sessions for travelers. For example, Kroll Associates (www.kroll.com/services/security/crisis_emergency/), a New York-based risk consulting company, has a long list of safety offerings including defensive training at the Crucible in northern Virginia.

iJET (www.ijet.com) and International SOS (www.internationalsos.com/en/security_employeeprotection.htm) provide fee-based services. If you’re traveling abroad to a political hot spot, check in with your embassy (www.embassyworld.com) when you arrive.

Don’t overlook the value of travel blogs and social media like Twitter to alert you to the unexpected. There are regular e-newsletters for business travelers too, some requiring paid subscriptions, some free.

If your full-service travel agent offers a newsletter, make sure you subscribe. Look into Joe Brancatelli’s newsletter, "Joe Sent Me," available in a brief executive summary format every Friday morning (http://biztravelife.com/m/list.html). Joe also offers a paid subscription that includes more and detailed information, including breaking global news and crises updates.

Travel industry organizations offer assistance too. The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE), in response to the Mumbai attacks, developed a list of guidelines for business travelers seeking to mitigate risks. Among their recommendations are these new guidelines:

1. Ask for a complete briefing on the corporate international assistance and traveler evacuation plan. These are specifically drafted to deal with outbreaks of disease, war, urban strife, and fire.

2. Check with your corporate security department before taking a trip into an unfamiliar area. If you have any doubts, request a briefing.

3. Check for U.S. State Department advisories before traveling and familiarize yourself with your corporate "situation" plan before you travel.

4. If traveling to a destination that has seen recent strife, call your Embassy when you arrive at your destination to check in.

5. Make copies of your travel documents and leave copies at your office and at home. Also carry a copy of your travel documents and keep them in a safe place in case documents are stolen or lost.

6. Load all appropriate telephone numbers (i.e. U.S. consulate, U.S. embassy, your corporate travel department, your corporate security department, and hotel telephone numbers) into your cell phone before you travel.

7. Avoid crowds and minimize your exposure to public places.

8. Learn about local customs before you travel so you do not offend individuals on the street or attract undue attention to yourself.

9. Do not walk around with travel documents or maps exposed.

10. Do not wear expensive jewelry, such as wrist watches or rings, which may mark you as a potential target.

11. Do not deviate from your planned agenda without letting at least two sources in your office or at home know where you are going and why. You may also want to tell the hotel where you are going.

ACTE also suggests that travelers carry the following:

-- A Blackberry-type device or cell phone capable of sending and receiving international e-mail.

-- A reliable flashlight in case the power goes off. Flashlights can also be used to signal authorities. Using cell phones for this purpose may run down batteries and limit your only means of communication.

-- A personal water purification device (the size of a marker and under four ounces), in the event you have to rely on local water for an indefinite period of time.

-- A shortwave portable radio (not much larger than a pack of cigarettes and under four ounces) can supply news for days on two "AA" batteries, and will pick up transmissions from the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Delaying or canceling important business travel is rarely the answer; neither is capitulating to terror threats, whatever form they take. Preparedness is crucial, of course, along with acknowledging that there will always be strife somewhere in the world.

madison.com ©2009 Capital Newspapers. All rights reserved.