Frequently asked questions

Travel risk management enables organisations to travel and operate effectively anywhere in the world and not be caught off guard when things change or disruptive events happen. It allows companies to proactively reduce their risk profile by advising on medical, security and political risks that may impact travellers, expats, or overseas operations.

Travel risk management encompasses medical case management, evacuation, and repatriation together with providing access to virtual care services (telehealth) and security intelligence. In addition to support services for medical, travel, and security emergencies, World Travel Protection – part of the Zurich Insurance Group – educates and trains businesses to mitigate exposure to inherent risks associated with travelling abroad. These proactive travel risk management services focus on understanding unique risks based on traveller profile, the activity being conducted, and destination risks to ensure foreseeable risks are understood and managed.

A good travel risk management company should provide both proactive and reactive services that will reduce risk to your travellers. Examples of proactive services include pre-trip risk assessment and advisories, medical and security consulting, and training. Post trip, these services could include a health assessment and/or security debrief.

Examples of reactive services, or services provided during travel, include 24/7 travel, medical, and security assistance; location monitoring; travel technology; and physical security. In addition to these common services, there are many other unique services we provide. Here is a full list of our services.

Over 20 million travellers place their trust in World Travel Protection each year for assistance across 200 countries and territories.

At its most basic level, duty of care is the legal and ethical responsibility to ensure the welfare of others. Simply put, it’s doing the right thing. This responsibility to do the right thing can extend beyond office walls to include employees working from home or in another country (digital nomads), students or staff travelling abroad, and even contractors. In an organisation with travellers, duty of care means a demonstration of interest for your travellers’ safety by planning and taking preventive measures to mitigate risk. Legally speaking, duty of care is the organisation’s responsibility to mitigate foreseeable risk and should be included in your corporate travel management plan.

Duty of care is important because it demonstrates that an organisation cares about its people. A lot can go wrong when an employee travels for business and it’s the organisation’s duty to be prepared for whatever happens. Some common issues that business travellers encounter include misplacing a passport, becoming ill while abroad, or getting in a transportation accident. From an organisational perspective or as a travel manager, knowing you’ve met the legal and moral obligations will give you peace of mind.

While duty of care focuses on an organisation’s obligation to keep its people safe and protect their wellbeing, corporate social responsibility (CSR) takes this a step further and focuses a bit more on the larger picture of an organisation’s impact on society. In other words, CSR is an organisation’s obligation to conduct business in an ethical or philanthropic way that positively impacts the economy, society, and the environment. Duty of care and CSR are interconnected because in today’s world, an organisation needs to care for their people as well as the world we live in.

ISO 31030 is an industry first guidance with a best practice framework for Travel Risk Management. This 160-page document provides a formal approach to the development, execution, and evaluation for an organisation to review its Travel Risk Management policy. Your corporate travel management plan should carefully consider this document. To support your organisation’s adoption or benchmarking of the framework, World Travel Protection created an easy-to-use ISO 31030 Self-Assessment tool.

ISO 31030 provides a globally recognised framework for managing travel-related risks effectively. For businesses that send employees abroad, it helps establish clear policies and processes to fulfil duty of care obligations, ensuring traveller safety and wellbeing.

Adopting ISO 31030 enables organisations to proactively identify, assess, and mitigate risks associated with business travel, leading to more informed decision-making and stronger risk management. It also demonstrates a commitment to best practices, which can enhance corporate reputation and compliance with legal and insurance requirements.

ISO 31030 is a guidance document that provides the first global framework for Travel Risk Management. It is not certifiable; however, following the framework ensures a common practice, language and adoption thus creating a standardisation for users. World Travel Protection pioneered a self-audit tool that easily guides you through the key aspects of the framework. Many organisations also take advantage of our ISO 31030 expert consulting to ensure their policy is up to date.

Travel medical assistance is important when you’re travelling outside of the area or country where your healthcare plan exists. This type of assistance supports travellers before, during and after their trip with health and medical related needs. Some of the things your medical assistance company can help you with are locating medical providers in your language (or a translator if needed), arranging transportation, coordinating evacuations, and replacing lost or run out medication. Some common ways one could utilise this service when ill abroad is to use telehealth services or receive guidance in finding the closest local hospital with specific capabilities for your condition.

Our global team of World Travel Protection (WTP) medical consultants are all clinically practicing specialists as well, so when travellers need emergency medical support, expert help is available 24/7. Learn more here. Having a medical assistance company in place helps reduce stress for those in need, and also helps those responsible for their wellbeing ensure other potential risks are limited.

Yes! Travel Risk Management is different from health, travel, or trip cancellation insurance. Rarely do even the most comprehensive insurance plans include access to all of the following:

• Pre-travel briefings
• Security, risk and intelligence insights
• Access to travel technology that monitors for potential travel disruptors 24/7

Yet all are important to help you stay safe while abroad. Travel Risk Management and insurance work together to provide a comprehensive care package for travellers and help with cost containment should an incident occur.

Security risk assistance or management is the practice of assessing and tackling risk abroad for organisations, students, staff, and assets before, during, and after travel. It makes up one arm of Travel Risk Management. At World Travel Protection, our global security assistance services are intelligence-driven and focused on preventing threats. Through our world-class technology and intelligence tools, we empower our travellers and their risk managers to make smarter, safer choices.

Travel risk management is essential for any organisation with a travelling workforce, whether it’s a multinational corporation, academic institution, non-profit, or government agency. Common industries that use travel risk management services include gas, mining, healthcare, energy, education, and humanitarian aid, among others.

Partnering with a travel risk management provider is a strategic approach to proactively identify, mitigate, and manage travel-related risks-helping organisations safeguard their people, assets, and operations while fulfilling duty of care obligations.

Founded in 1988, World Travel Protection is a global leader in travel risk management, providing corporate and leisure travellers with access to 24-hour expertise and support. Our in-house team of experienced security and medical experts, including practicing senior medical leaders, doctors and nurses, ensures clients receive expert guidance and rapid response. Unlike others, we have no incentives to recommend unnecessary costs or evacuations, ensuring client-first service.

As a full-service provider owned by Zurich Insurance, we offer competitive pricing passed directly to clients. Our extensive leisure travel portfolio gives us unique global exposure and case experience, enabling comprehensive, practical support wherever your people travel.

Learn more: About – World Travel Protection

World Travel Protection supports travellers and organisations through a wide range of travel-related risks and emergencies. This includes medical incidents such as illness or injury abroad, security threats like political unrest, protests, or personal safety concerns, and logistical challenges including travel disruptions, evacuations, or lost documents.

Our experts provide real-time risk intelligence, proactive travel risk assessments, and 24/7 emergency assistance to help you prepare for and respond to incidents quickly and effectively. Whether it’s coordinating medical evacuations, providing security advice during unstable conditions, or supporting crisis communications, we help mitigate risks to keep your people safe and your operations running smoothly no matter where they are in the world.

Absolutely. World Travel Protection’s services are designed to scale with your organisation’s needs, whether you have a small group or a large global workforce. Even with a small team, proactive travel risk management is essential to ensure their safety, compliance with duty of care obligations, and to reduce the impact of unforeseen incidents.

Our subscription service provides your travellers with 24/7 access to expert medical and security assistance, real-time risk intelligence, and travel monitoring, all tailored to your organisation’s unique needs. Beyond immediate support, we also offer consulting services which act as an extension of your team, helping you develop and refine travel policies, conduct risk assessments, and implement best practices aligned with international standards like ISO 31030. Learn more about our consulting services here: Consulting Services – World Travel Protection

World Travel Protection has the expertise and resources to advise and help manage your medical or security emergency while you are experiencing it. On the contrary, with travel insurance alone you must often manage the emergency by yourself and later submit receipts to get expenses reimbursed.

Travel Risk Management is different from health, travel, or trip cancellation insurance. Rarely do even the most comprehensive insurance plans include access to all of the following:

• Pre-travel briefings
• Security, risk and intelligence insights
• Access to travel technology that monitors for potential travel disruptors 24/7

Yet all are important to help you stay safe while abroad. Travel Risk Management and insurance work together to provide a comprehensive care package for travellers and help with cost containment should an incident occur.

Learn more: The Key Benefits of Integrating Travel Risk Management with BTA Insurance.

Brokers play a vital role in connecting organisations with travel risk management solutions that enhance traveller safety and duty of care compliance. By partnering with providers like World Travel Protection, brokers can offer their clients comprehensive risk mitigation services, including 24/7 medical and security assistance, risk assessments, and travel safety consulting services.

We work closely with brokers to tailor solutions that align with their clients’ specific travel profiles, ensuring seamless integration alongside insurance products. This collaborative approach helps brokers add value, differentiate their offerings, and support clients in managing the complex risks associated with global travel. Contact our team to learn more.

At World Travel Protection, we have a dedicated network of quality accredited service providers who support our clients and customers whenever and wherever they may require it. We are always looking to expand and enhance our GlobalCare Network footprint and invite qualified, reputable organisations to join. If you would like to be considered as part of our provider panel, please complete this expression of interest form.