Corporate travel spending is projected to surpass $2 trillion globally by 2029. However, organizations are facing an increasingly complex threat landscape that presents risks to employee safety.
These threats include geopolitical instability, which can lead to sudden travel disruptions; cyber threats targeting sensitive corporate data; and natural disasters exacerbated by climate change.
For organizations with duty of care obligations, building a comprehensive travel risk management (TRM) program isn’t just good practice; it’s essential for protecting employees and business continuity.
A travel risk management program provides systematic processes to identify, assess, and mitigate risks that could impact traveling employees. Today’s organizations must adapt their TRM plans and travel policies to keep up with evolving threats.
This guide provides a clear roadmap for developing your organization’s TRM program, covering risk assessment, policy development, technology integration, and implementation of best practices.
Understanding today’s travel risks
The modern risk landscape is multifaceted and constantly changing. To build an effective program, you must know the primary threats your travelers may face:
- Political instability: Civil unrest, protests, and sudden changes in government can create hazardous conditions.
- Health emergencies: Pandemics, regional outbreaks, and inadequate medical infrastructure pose significant health risks.
- Natural disasters: Events like hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires can disrupt travel and endanger employees.
- Cybersecurity threats: Travelers are often targeted through unsecured Wi-Fi networks, leading to data breaches and intellectual property theft. AI is also used to drive a variety of increasingly complex cyberattacks.
- Transportation disruptions: Airline strikes, infrastructure failures, and severe weather can leave employees stranded.
Inadequate travel risk management carries severe financial and reputational consequences. A single incident can lead to costly evacuations, medical expenses, lost productivity, and lasting damage to a brand’s reputation as a responsible employer.
5 steps to building your travel risk management program
Effective TRM programs require structured frameworks that integrate across multiple organizational functions and align with global best practices, such as the ISO 31030:2021 standard for travel risk management. This standard provides a comprehensive framework for managing travel-related risks and ensuring employee safety.
Here are the steps to create a program:
1. Policies and procedures
Establish comprehensive policies guided by ISO 31030:2021 to define pre-travel approval processes, destination risk classifications, and mandatory security protocols. These policies should specify when travel requires additional approvals, the security measures needed for different risk levels, and how employees should respond to emerging threats.
2. Pre-travel briefings and training
Implement pre-travel briefings and mandatory training programs to ensure employees are aware of destination-specific risks and understand how to access support resources. Reinforce employee awareness of relevant travel policies, communication protocols, and resources available before, during, and after travel.
TRM program socialization and adoption is vital. ISO 31030 emphasizes the importance of effective communication and training to promote compliance.
3. Roles and responsibilities
Define clear roles and responsibilities across departments, including security, human resources, internal communications, travel management, and legal teams. Following ISO 31030 guidelines, each function should have clearly outlined duties for both routine operations, training, and emergency situations. Corporate travelers have a responsibility to be aware of their organization’s program, the available resources, and what is expected of them.
4. Duty of care obligations
Address duty of care obligations by establishing documentation procedures, incident reporting protocols, and legal compliance frameworks in line with ISO 31030:2021 standards. For example, the standard supports integrating due diligence into risk management systems and maintaining public reporting on traveler welfare, for example, compliance with regulations like the EU’s corporate sustainability reporting directive (CSRD).
5. Evaluate your program
Successful TRM programs require ongoing evaluation and refinement based on incident data, employee feedback, and changing risk environments.
Track key performance indicators including incident response times, traveler compliance rates, policy utilization metrics, and cost per incident. Use these metrics as the baseline for measuring your program’s effectiveness and ROI.
Ask key questions to evaluate your program, such as: Can you locate all traveling employees within 15 minutes? Do you have pre-established evacuation procedures for each destination? Are employees trained on communication protocols during emergencies? Have you tested your incident response procedures and technologies through tabletop exercises?
By leveraging the ISO 31030:2021 framework, organizations can create robust, globally recognized TRM programs that prioritize traveler safety while meeting duty of care requirements.
Enhancing business traveler safety with technology
Manual processes are no longer sufficient for managing the complexities of modern business travel. Comprehensive TRM platforms automate and centralize critical safety functions, providing a significant return on investment.
Everbridge Travel Protector™ is a comprehensive travel risk management solution designed to ensure the safety and well-being of traveling and remote employees. Key features and benefits include:
- 360° Threat awareness: Provides real-time risk intelligence, pre-trip advisories, and alerts for travelers, including those in high-risk areas or with critical travel plans.
- Location awareness & alerts: Tracks travelers via mobile app check-ins, travel reservations, and advanced search capabilities, enabling quick identification of those at risk.
- Traveler safety App: Offers a mobile app with travel risk intelligence, emergency contact options, and educational resources to minimize risks.
- 24/7 Medical & security assistance: Access to multilingual support for medical and security emergencies, ensuring rapid response during crises.
- Integration with Critical Event Management (CEM): Part of Everbridge’s CEM platform, it unifies travel data, automated alerts, and dynamic location tracking for seamless risk management.
- Compliance with ISO 31030: Helps organizations meet international travel risk management standards, enhancing duty-of-care obligations.
Everbridge Travel Protector is ideal for organizations prioritizing employee safety and operational resilience in a hybrid workforce.
See how Burns & McDonnell uses Everbridge to improve global employee safety by managing weather emergencies, safeguarding travelers, and protecting operations.
Not sure how to assess travel risk management solutions? Download our free eBook to simplify your decision with 20+ key questions and must-have features for safer, smarter business travel.
Strengthening organizational resilience through strategic investment
Building an effective travel risk management program requires systematic attention to risk assessment, policy development, technology integration, and continuous improvement. Organizations that invest in comprehensive TRM capabilities protect their employees while maintaining competitive advantages in global markets.
The rapidly evolving threat landscape, particularly the increase in cyber-attacks and new regulatory requirements, makes robust TRM programs essential for organizational resilience.
Companies that implement effective programs reduce incident frequency, minimize disruption costs, and demonstrate their commitment to employee safety and regulatory compliance.
Ready to see how Everbridge can transform your TRM program? Take a personalized tour of our comprehensive solution and discover how leading organizations protect their travelers while maintaining operational excellence.
Available with Everbridge 360™ Enterprise, Everbridge Signal cuts through online noise to identify critical information – saving time, resources, and lives. By enhancing resilience, protecting people, and enabling informed decisions with real-time situational awareness, it ensures operational security and safeguards your organization’s reputation.
Full video transcript
[00:08.5]
BCIC helps us stay resilient by allowing us to have all of our information in a single repository. We can track our BIAs and tie that into our business continuity plans. All the information is relational, so we don’t have to retype in any information.
[00:29.3]
It’s all just, this is associated with that, and we’re good to go. I would advise anyone that’s trying to do a business continuity program with the manual process is to give it up. There are so many advantages of having a application that’s a business continuity management system that can help you manage your program.
[00:53.0]
It’s just, it saves you double your staff in efficiency. BCIC, just a real world example of how it was beneficial to us, and this is fairly simple, but we have a big migration going on from JDE World to JDE E1.
[01:12.7]
And this is going to cause a momentary interruption in our processes, in our application, which is at the core of our business. And they wanted to know which business processes are impacted by the loss of that application and the boundary applications for JDE World and E1.
[01:36.6]
And we were able to create a report in a matter of 30 minutes that says here’s those processes that are impacted by this interruption.
Full video transcript
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In today’s complex risk landscape, true resilience takes more than static plans. BC in the Cloud has a purpose-built resilience platform that brings together everything you need. Business continuity, disaster recovery, risk management, testing, and incident response in one streamlined solution.
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With powerful dependency mapping, you can visualize how systems, processes, locations, and vendors are connected, so you know exactly what’s at risk and where to act first. Need flexibility? Our platform is easily configurable with no developers required. Whether you’re adjusting workflows, updating
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assessments, or customizing dashboards, you stay in control as your program evolves. And with seamless integration into Everbridge’s critical event management platform, you can instantly know what’s impacted, communicate across teams, and coordinate response when
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every second counts. We meet you where you are. Whether you’re just starting your continuity journey or scaling a mature program, we help you fast track your success. Our team works alongside you to build, strengthen, and evolve your program. Because your success is our success. Land smarter, recover57sAdd a noteJump to
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faster. Protect what matters most with BC in the cloud.
How can organizations stay ahead of complex and evolving threats? From cybersecurity risks to domestic extremism and the rise of AI in risk intelligence, today’s climate requires proactive strategies and adaptable decision-making. In this Q&A, Sean McDevitt, Director of Product Marketing, interviews Adam DeLuca, Director of Risk Intelligence, about critical risks, the importance of AI, and essential practices for building resilient Global Security Operations Centers (GSOCs).
Discover expert insights on navigating new threats, harnessing intelligence for proactive decisions, and strengthening your security operations.
Sean McDevitt: What emerging threats do you see having the most significant impact on global organizations?
Adam DeLuca: Today and in the near future, I see several major threats shaping the landscape: cybersecurity risks and nation-state actors, domestic violent extremism (DVE), critical infrastructure vulnerabilities, and the growing impacts of climate change. These areas will be key for businesses to monitor and prepare for.
SM: How do geopolitical tensions, cyber threats, and domestic extremism trends factor into Everbridge’s risk intelligence forecasting?
AD: At Everbridge, our forecasting isn’t topic-driven — it’s risk-driven. We assess events based on whether they pose a real vulnerability or increase risk exposure for our customers. If a geopolitical or cyber situation doesn’t present a tangible risk, we don’t just report it for the sake of reporting. Our focus is always on helping organizations mitigate real-world risks.
SM: What role is AI playing in both the evolution of threat actors and how organizations can counteract them?
AD: AI is reshaping the threat landscape, enabling attackers to use it for deepfakes, phishing, vulnerability detection, and adaptive malware. Not to mention AI can conduct sophisticated disinformation campaigns that can make organizations and their assets vulnerable to a variety of different threat vectors. AI-powered tools enhance social engineering, making attacks more precise and raising cybersecurity challenges.
On the defense side, organizations can and should use AI for real-time monitoring, threat detection, and faster response times. AI can start mitigating a threat before your cyber teams may have even detected it. AI can simulate attack scenarios, helping strengthen defenses and improve resilience against evolving threats. Integrating AI into security protocols is key to staying ahead in the fight against AI-driven cyber risks.
SM: What blind spots do many organizations have when it comes to threat intelligence, and how can they address them?
AD: Too often, organizations are reactive instead of proactive. Intelligence should be used to reduce risk exposure — whether that’s through executive protection, site assessments, or travel planning. Forward-leaning, proactive intelligence is critical. Insider threats are another blind spot. And even when trends or threats are identified, many organizations struggle to innovate or adapt quickly. Thorough after-action reviews are often overlooked but are essential for improving resilience.
Best practices for building resilient GSOCs
SM: For organizations looking to mature their GSOCs, what key capabilities should they prioritize?
AD: Focus on building strong people, effective processes, and smart use of AI. Repeatability and consistency are key. A mature GSOC should be reliable and agile at the same time.
SM: What advice would you give to security leaders trying to balance automation, AI, and human analysis in their GSOCs?
AD: It’s all about finding the right balance — and that requires action. Make decisive decisions, experiment, adjust, and don’t be afraid to fail. Trial and error is part of the process. Communication and collaboration are critical as you build a GSOC that integrates automation and AI without losing the human judgment that makes intelligence effective.
SM: What misconceptions do you still encounter about risk intelligence among security leaders?
AD: Risk intelligence is often used as a catch-all term. It is not merely the reporting the news, which I often see passed off as Risk Intelligence. Genuine risk intelligence follows a formula: risk leads to vulnerability, and the critical aspect is determining how to mitigate that vulnerability. Mitigation is frequently overlooked, which is a crucial part of the process in strengthening an organizations risk posture.
Additionally, risk intelligence should be viewed holistically, encompassing all stages of the intelligence cycle rather than being confined to individual steps. These stages include collection, clean data, dissemination methods, production, and the most vital step – customer feedback. Each stage plays a crucial role, and improving each individually is essential to building an effective and successful risk intelligence program.
SM: How do you see the role of physical security evolving as digital threats continue to grow?
AD: It’s a different world than it used to be. Organizations need to think about vulnerability assessments for their physical security. What are your unacceptable consequences? And then you need to plan for that. People are always worried about cyber – but in terms of US infrastructure at least – there have been more physical security attacks than cyber-attacks. So, developing strong insider threat programs, doing assessments of your assets, and making sure there is continuity between operations, and your SOC, and law enforcement. A strong physical security posture is 100% necessary for a comprehensive risk mitigation strategy.
Everbridge Risk Intelligence Monitoring Center (RIMC) insights and goals
SM: Where is the Everbridge RIMC focusing its monitoring efforts, and what major trends are shaping those priorities? Has there been an evolution over the last several years that shapes that prioritization?
AD: We’re leaning heavily into AI to enhance automation, monitoring, and source validation — improving the intelligence cycle at every stage. We’re also expanding our international sourcing and providing more localized, granular risk intelligence. Our monitoring will be more forward-looking, with an emphasis on early trend analysis and mitigation strategies.
Today, effective intelligence programs include AI, an analyst and quality process. The web is shrinking, access to open-source intelligence is harder, and people are sharing information differently. We’re leveraging AI tools to enhance open-source research capabilities and threat monitoring, but true intelligence analysis happens when skilled analysts use AI effectively within a structured process.
SM: How does Everbridge risk intelligence help organizations make proactive decisions rather than just reacting to crises?
AD: Our goal is to be forward-leaning — to help organizations see around the corner, not just respond after the fact. We aggregate information from over 20,000 sources, leverage generative AI and machine learning, and combine it with the expertise of our analysts. We focus on highlighting risks before they escalate, giving customers actionable insights to limit exposure. And when events do happen, we dive into the why and how, helping customers close gaps for the future.
Preparing for the risks of tomorrow, today
Navigating the ever-evolving landscape of global threats requires a balance of insight, innovation, and preparedness. From harnessing AI to enhance risk intelligence to addressing hidden vulnerabilities in both physical and digital security, Adam DeLuca’s insights highlight the enduring value of foresight and adaptability in protecting organizations.
At Everbridge, we’re committed to helping businesses strengthen resilience and stay ahead of emerging challenges—through proactive intelligence, scalable solutions, and expert support.
