International SOS Findings for 2017 Travel Risk Map

The International Travel Risk Map 2017 was released by International SOS last month. The map shows the latest travel and medical risk ratings around the world based on International SOS and Control Risks findings, presenting a comprehensive overview by destination.

One of the key findings shows that the latest business decision-makers views on travel risk is quite negative as 72% travel risks have increased over the past year, and 57% expect further rise in risk levels in the future. But even with the increase in travel risk perception among business decision-makers, there’s still a 44% rise in business travel activity this year, and more than half of the respondents expect further increase of business travel activity next year.

International SOS’s Medical Director of Information and Analysis, Dr Irene Lai, gives us a few comments about the findings of this travel risk outlook:

“The trend we are seeing is more organisations putting the health of their mobile workers on the agenda, driven by an increasing awareness of incidents which can be prevented, along with an increased Duty of Care responsibility in a growing number of countries.” 

Dr Lai further explains that organisations should pay more attention to maintaining the health of mobile workers in the more basic sense of illnesses. Dr Lai continues “Minor, mundane health issues are statistically more likely to occur than the dramatic headline-grabbing scenario. Colds , flu, and gastrointestinal upsets often cause disruption to a business trip, as do common chronic health issues such as cardiovascular disease. A pre-travel medical checkup, vaccinations, and  taking simple steps to protect health, such as using insect repellent, being careful with your choice of food and beverages,  does reduce the risk of falling sick during travel. Organisations need to make sure that their mobile workforce knows what to do before, during and after travel to stay healthy.”

Click here to learn more about the findings and to download the International SOS 2017 Travel Risk Map.