Find out how to plan international travel safely in 2026: risk analysis, duty of care, digital security and staff preparedness.
Travelling in 2026: why security planning has become a strategic skill
In recent years the very idea of travel security has changed profoundly. Where the focus once fell mainly on petty crime or health hazards, anyone travelling for work today has to contend with an international landscape that is far more fluid and far harder to predict. Regional conflicts, geopolitical tensions, sudden demonstrations, transport disruption, cyber attacks, extreme weather events and disinformation campaigns can all shift a destination’s risk level within hours, even somewhere considered relatively stable only days earlier. Traveller security, then, can no longer be handled as a simple set of recommendations issued before departure: it has to become an integral part of an organisation’s operational planning.
One of the most common mistakes is to label a destination as either “safe” or “dangerous”. In reality, risk is way more dynamic than that. A city may offer high levels of day-to-day security and turn critical during protests, strikes or natural disasters that knock out essential services. It is for precisely this reason that security professionals increasingly talk about scenario-based risk assessment, based on the continuous evaluation of the operating environment, rather than a straightforward geographical classification.
Good planning begins long before the ticket is bought. Before authorising an international mission, it is worth examining a range of factors: how the geopolitical context is evolving, the health situation in the destination country, levels of crime, the reliability of local infrastructure, the stability of transport networks, seasonal climate risks and any regulatory restrictions in force. Government travel advisories such as the Italian Foreign Ministry’s Viaggiare Sicuri portal and app, provide an essential starting point, but organizations operating in higher-risk environments should complement official information with professional intelligence and tailored risk assessments that reflect the specific nature of their activities and operational objectives.
Duty of Care: More Than a Legal Responsibility
For organisations, duty of care is not merely a moral obligation; it is a legal and organisational responsibility of growing significance. Protecting personnel means putting in place a system that encompasses travel authorisation procedures, preventive risk assessment, dedicated traveller training, contingency plans, communication arrangements for the duration of the mission and, where necessary, evacuation procedures. The aim is not to eliminate every risk, but to reduce its likelihood and limit its impact through preparation and awareness.
Even the best travel plan loses much of its value if individual behaviour falls short. A great many incidents can be avoided through simple preventive measures: keeping a low profile, avoiding predictable routines, knowing alternative routes, thinking twice before sharing your location on social media in real time, using secure communication channels and always checking the reliability of the transport you use. The ability to read your surroundings and recognise early indicators of risk is one of the most valuable skills anyone working abroad can develop.
It is exactly this kind of awareness that we help to build through experiential training such as our Hostile Environment Awareness Training (HEAT) course, in which participants work through realistic scenarios and learn to make sound decisions under pressure.
Cybersecurity is part of travel security
Every journey is also a digital one. Smartphones, laptops and cloud services hold sensitive corporate data and can become targets every bit as much as the traveller. Before departure, it is good practice to update devices and operating systems, enable multi-factor authentication, avoid connecting to unsecured public Wi-Fi networks, backup essential data and establish response procedures in the event that a device is stolen or compromised. Physical security and digital security are now inseparable.
The international picture is likely to remain highly volatile. In that context, the difference will not be made by the ability to foresee every eventuality, but by how well prepared people and organisations are to manage the unexpected. Resilience comes from the combination of training, planning, procedures and sound decision-making. Investing in security does not mean restricting international mobility. It means making it more sustainable, more responsible and safer for those who work in complex environments every day.