Travel Security Providers, Travel Security Services, Travel Security Experts
Travel security providers offer the services of security professionals to assist companies and individuals with keeping safe when traveling. The travel security experts employed by these types of companies usually have some sort of federal law enforcement, military, or intelligence service background. They specialize in every facet of travel security services including risk assessment, personal protection, vendor management, crisis response and more.
Many security enterprises, such as Olive Group and Triple Canopy, began as companies providing personnel and equipment in support of the U.S. and NATO forces in Iraq and Afghanistan in the early 2000s. These companies, once combat essentially ended and the West began withdrawing their forces, morphed into travel security providers. The rise of IS and the terrorism threat worldwide and the increasing crime threat in cities like Sao Paulo, Brazil, opened up a market for travel security services that these companies could fill. Their staff had years of experience supporting personnel in high-risk environments. The transition to adding travel security services to their suite of offerings was easy.
Other companies, such as Control Risks, International SOS, UnitedHealthcare Global (formerly known as ASI GOUP, MEDEX GLOBAL SOLUTIONS and FRONTIER MEDEX) and many others have been in the travel security services industry before the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. They employed travel security experts to support businesses and Ultra High Net Worth individuals. The travel security provider niche though was small and did not become a major revenue producer for them until the last 10-12 years.
The travel security industry changed since about 2003 or so also. Small, large and medium size companies for safety as well as liability reasons have made travel security part of their business support structure. The push by companies into markets that have high crime rates, such as many parts of (North) Africa, Middle East and Latin America, helped fuel the growth of the travel security niche.
Even individuals now seek travel security advice. Universities, for example, have discovered an increasing need for travel security services. U.S. colleges have encouraged students to study abroad for at least a semester. Some schools even make it a requirement to graduate. Security companies have begun to exploit this market and provide written reports, briefings and sometimes on-the-ground support for the student trips.
Tourists have added security to their checklist of requirements for travel. Travel agencies have begun to provide risk reports and other security-related services to their website offerings. Group trips offered by travel agents always include specific security mitigation measures such as restricting travel to certain hours of the day and even using armored vans in certain places.
In addition to obtaining travel security services from a company, many talented and experienced travel security experts offer individual services to clients. Some have several clients on retainer, and the customer activates them whenever they need support.
When choosing a travel security provider, you should look ensure that the personnel they use have the appropriate backgrounds. Former local law enforcement may have a good basic skill set, but if they do not have experience in working abroad, they probably are not the right choice. Former military contractors may or may not do a good job. Sometimes, for example, just because a person was a military sniper does not mean he can operate effectively in a civilian overseas, non-hostile environment.
Some travel security providers are: Control Risks, UnitedHealthcare Global (formerly known as ASI GOUP, MEDEX GLOBAL SOLUTIONS and FRONTIER MEDEX), Anvil Group, Olive Group, red24, International SOS, SOS International … and many more.