As global business travel continues to increase at a rapid pace, International SOS and Control Risks, the alliance that brings together two of the world’s leading medical and security specialists, today reveals insight into the importance of travel security support to the business traveller. In the past two years alone, demand for security advice has grown by almost 30%, and has had an 800% increase since the launch of the partnership in 2008[1]. On average, over 100 business travellers and international assignees a day have been supported with advice² in the past year.

This month (March 2018) International SOS and Control Risks celebrate the 10 year anniversary of their strategic alliance. It is the longest running strategic alliance of its kind and was the industry’s first. Since launch, it has supported members with over 5.3m pre-travel advisories and over 100,000 situation development / crisis alerts.

David Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Security Services at International SOS, comments, “Globalisation and an increasing emphasis on Duty of Care has brought the necessity of robust security risk management programmes to the forefront of the corporate agenda, and business leaders have become increasingly aware that this is an essential aspect of business resilience. Through our partnership with Control Risks, we have been able to take the lead globally in providing expert pre-travel advice, up-to-the-minute situational awareness and on the ground support, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Our focus on technology enables our clients to know where their people are and our combined strength means that we can provide both security and medical rapid response assistance to them wherever and whenever necessary.”

Richard Fenning, Chief Executive Officer, Control Risks, adds, “I am delighted that through our alliance with International SOS we have transformed the service we deliver to our clients. Bringing together the capabilities of our two organisations has given international corporations the bedrock they need to ensure that their global workforce receives the medical, security and emergency assistance they need to be successful wherever they operate. Over the decade we have been working together, we have forged a partnership that has proven its success to prevent significant disruption and distress for our clients through awareness building, training and intervention. I am proud that together we have created the market-defining standard in travel security management for clients from right across the world.”

Since launching the partnership in 2008, International SOS and Control Risks have created a number of industry leading solutions and services aimed at keeping business travellers and international assignees safe while overseas. The proprietary, award winning, TravelTracker tool, continuously enhanced during the alliance, enables over 2,000 clients to locate over 3 million employees on demand. Along with the recently launched Incident Support, this provides essential support within the first hour of an incident.  

Multi-lingual platforms including Digital Learning, classroom training simulations and a range of further digital travel risk mitigation services serve as a complement to the International SOS Assistance offering, providing members with web-based tools to understand and prepare for all medical, security and travel risks. Combinations of these services offer the capability to help clients fulfil their Duty of Care to their travellers and include expert-led medical and security intelligence for over 227 countries and 410 cities.

To know more about how International SOS and Control Risks successful partnership supports the mobile workforce, click here.

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Notes to Editors:

About International SOS and Control Risks

In the age of ever-changing risk, protecting an increasingly mobile workforce is a key challenge for any organisation. Since 2008, International SOS and Control Risks provide their clients with the insight, preparation and training to resolve the issues and crises that hit any global organisation. The alliance between International SOS and Control Risks meets the growing need for an integrated medical and travel security risk management solution. Our integrated resources and expertise support the health, security, safety and well-being of their workforce, helping employers meet their Duty of Care responsibilities – the backbone of business resilience and sustainability. 200 dedicated travel security experts through five regional security centres produce global travel security information and analysis 24/7. We also provide travel risk awareness training, preventative travel assessment, support with the development of travel security risk policies, evacuation plans and the latest technology to enable clients to locate and communicate with their mobile workers.