In the light of the recent spate of indiscriminate attacks in Europe, terrorism has become a major concern to many tourists and business travellers who want to come to Europe. However, identifying and understanding current trends will help travellers to develop an understanding of the threat and will give them the best chance of mitigating it effectively.
“Lone wolf” attacks are on the rise and are difficult to foil. These sorts of attacks will be primitive in nature, involve few if any backers and are likely to target unprotected civilians. The traumatic events in Nice demonstrated that, while security services are tightening their grip on borders and improving the flow of intelligence, hostile elements will not be deterred from striking by the difficulty of acquiring weapons or getting at the most sensitive targets – they will simply find another way. Therefore, security services face a significant challenge; they cannot afford to concentrate resources on protecting strategic or symbolic locations since targeting has become more random and unpredictable. To complicate matters yet further: governments can no longer rely on conventional methods of profiling potential attackers. This is because terrorist organizations increasingly seek to recruit individuals who do not conform to preconceived images of a dangerous extremist.
In such situations a sense of perspective is important. The changing nature of such attacks means that risk is impossible to eliminate – which makes them a very effective means of intimidation, from the terrorists’ perspective. By definition, terrorist organisations seek to further their aims though instilling fear. It is therefore crucial that we do not allow that fear to cloud judgements and impact livelihoods. Thus, despite the widely publicised attacks in France and Germany, the reality is that both countries remain comparatively very safe for visitors. The risk to travellers of getting caught up in terrorist attacks is extremely low across Europe. Therefore businesses should ensure that concerns about terrorism do not distort risk assessments by neglecting other, and potentially greater, threats to travellers such as crime, disease and traffic accidents. In essence, businesses need to examine how best they can continue operations at minimal risk to their employees. This can be done through conducting risk assessments, instilling safe travel practices, communicating frequently and regularly with those who are travelling and tracking them electronically when they are in higher risk locations. Having contingency plans to communicate with families and emergency services and other stakeholders, as well as mitigating any adverse impacts on business continuity, are important.
Thus, companies should take advantage of a wide array of technologies and services that have been developed in response to the growing security threat, while keeping a realistic view of the risks associated with terrorism. Responsibilities for safe travel fall on employer and employee alike. Employers should put in place relevant policies and procedures and employees should abide by the processes that have been put in place, ensuring that they understand the risks and how to react in adverse circumstances. Executives should carefully consider the threat and the effectiveness of the company’s security arrangements as well as the concerns of their employees in determining the company’s travel risk appetite. The reality is that most parts of the world represent an extremely low risk to the traveller, provided that a sensible level of awareness and some good processes are properly embedded within the organisation.