Managers have revealed their major concerns for staff on business trips, with organising correct entry documents, health and medical issues and terrorism and security threats at the top, according to ABTA.
The survey shows more than half believe none of their employees have encountered any problems on business trips over the last year.
However, the research found marked differences between managers’ concerns and the actual problems cited by staff. In particular, 60 per cent of bosses expressed worry over terrorism or security-related issues while only 6 per cent of employees had encountered such problems.
When asked what issues staff had encountered in the last 12 months, 18 per cent of managers cited natural disasters or severe weather conditions, while 15 per cent reported health or medical issues and 13 per cent said they had seen problems around organising the correct entry documents for the country to which staff were travelling.
Similarly, 24 per cent of managers expressed concern about potential disruption caused by geopolitical volatility such as political demonstrations, although just 7 per cent of those polled said staff had actually encountered such a situation.
Accessibility for employees with disabilities was cited by a third of respondents as a major concern and 11 per cent went on to say their staff had encountered problems in this area while on a business trip.
And nearly half (44 per cent) of managers were worried about harassment or violence against travellers, with 7 per cent saying staff had encountered this while away for business in the last 12 months. Misunderstanding local culture was also cited by 37 per cent, with 9 per cent reporting that employees had experienced problems with this.
Victoria Bacon, director of brand and business development at ABTA, said: “We live in an increasingly unpredictable world, and managers understandably have a wide range of concerns for their staff when travelling on business trips. There is a clear split between particular areas of concern for managers and the actual risk of problems occurring.”
abta.com