Expert help is needed to run a successful security programme for travellers, Caroline Strachan, international travel manager for Yahoo!, said.
Travel managers had limited time and resources and it was not fully their responsibility she said.
Ms Strachan was speaking at the UK and Ireland Institute of Travel Management's (ITM) one day seminar in London on risk: "Danger Zone: Traveller Security and Risk Assessment."
She outlined a five point programme to implement a security policy.
The first point was that staff must sign to say they have read the policy and accepted it. "If they don't sign, they don't go," said Ms Strachan who is also the new chair of the ITM.
There must also be 24/7 emergency support, pro-active advise for travellers, an internal response action plan to deal with any crisis and the policy must be constantly reviewed and tested.
But Ms Strachan warned the 100 delegates there was no "right way" to implement a security programme and some hurdles to be negotiated.
The travel manager had to find the right people in the company to back the policy.
"Who are the people in your company at executive level who have a specialist interest and these will be your advocate and support from the beginning," she said.
She also urged travel managers to make sure they had the right people in place when something did happen.
Staff, when travellers should be told what their responsibilities were and to be given a number to ring in case of problems.
Ms Strachan said it could take 15 months to implement the policy and said other departments including Human Resources, security and finance should also be involved.
After that there was a continual need to review it and carry out drills.
The Barclays approach
Sue Seaby, global group head of security at Barclays Group, told the forum that said all travel and all destinations were risked assess before staff went on trips.
She said all countries have a risk rating which was reviewed regularly.
These ratings were from level one which was high risk and covered countries like Afghanistan which were banned to countries with medium risk, currently like Kenya, to low risk countries which were "normal every day travel destinations."
"If there is a genuine need to travel to a country with risk, we would have a plan to get them in and, more important to get them out.
"If you want to go to a medium risk country, we would need to get the trip signed off. We would want top know why you are going and who will be the people there hosting you.
"You would also get a briefing.
"If you are going to a low risk country, you would have to keep to the travel policy and tell your colleagues where you are going,” Ms Seaby said.
She said if Barclays were going to a new market, the area would be assessed for risk, where staff should stay and how they should act while there.
"We would look at hotels so we know what the risks are and factor that into our assessment. We would also look at the best way to fly there and culturally how to act.
"We would then brief them before they travel so that they what are their responsibilities and they know what are ours.
"Then when they come back, we de-brief them," she said.
Ms Seaby said her company had evacuation plans ready for when things happened in a country.
For example, it had to get nine people out of Pakistan recently after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and 96 out of Kenya.
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