Travelling has always been a risky activity: from the inconvenience of lost baggage to far more serious concerns around safety – especially security and medical emergencies. When it comes to the latter, there are proactive measures you can take to protect yourself, your staff and your family. The Planner Guru finds out more about one such solution.
Thanks to the pandemic, traveller safety has come under the spotlight. Covid hindered travel globally, but business travel is on the rebound, and never before has the duty to care about staff been more important. The inherent risks are not limited to Covid or other medical conditions. Business travellers need to ensure they have comprehensive cover for all kinds of worst-case possibilities, including natural and man-made disasters, violent crime, political instability, terrorism and more.
Fortunately, there are options available that offer more than just financial cover. One such example is GEAR – Global Emergency Assistance and Response. GEAR is a travel assistance membership that has been designed specifically with the global traveller in mind. As well as providing financial cover, it provides travellers with real-time 24/7 emergency support and assistance through an easy-to-use smartphone app – GEAR Tech.
How it works
By using an app, GEAR is always within hand’s reach. Should a GEAR member require emergency assistance, they can open the app and instantly contact the Global Response Centre. A team of experts is available 24/7 to advise, guide and – if required – send medical or security support to move them to a place of safety. This means GEAR members benefit from immediate support, without the stress and hassle of a claims process or having to cover unforeseen costs during a crisis.
A team of experts is available 24/7 to advise, guide and – if required – send medical or security support to move them to a place of safety.
The potential risks that GEAR can expertly manage include:
- natural and man-made disasters
- violent crime
- political risks, terrorism, riots
- emergency accommodation
- wrongful detention
- missing persons
- evacuation and medical expenses
- kidnap and ransom response.
However, GEAR members don’t only receive help during emergencies; they are also given the right information to help proactively prevent emergencies. For example, members can ‘check-in’ and share their location with the Global Response Team. This allows live location-based safety alerts to be sent to them. These could be anything from infrastructure and transport disruptions to natural disasters, civil and political unrest, terrorist threats, and health risks. By arming members with this targeted information, they can more easily avoid potentially dangerous situations.
Other features on the app include up-to-date Global Alerts and Local Alerts pages, Country Advisory pages (with country-specific advice, including recommended vaccinations, security and medical information, cultural dos and don’ts, language, climate, visa and passport requirements, travel and transportation advice, currency conversion, public holidays and festivals), and access to the Assistance page.
Having real-time and reliable information on hand like this not only helps members make more informed decisions but it can streamline their travels while alleviating some of the stress associated with travelling.
Additional packages are also available, such as GEARx for comprehensive medical assistance, as well as the GEARx Consult option for 24-hour telemedical issues with an in-house practising medical team of doctors and nurses.
Having real-time and reliable information on hand like this not only helps members make more informed decisions but it can streamline their travels while alleviating some of the stress associated with travelling.
Who needs it?
GEAR is specifically built around the threat of crisis and medical emergencies far from home, which is what makes it suitable for the following people:
- Multinational organisations, including travelling employees, shareholders and board members or expats relocating. GEAR provides enhanced duty of care, with professional, experienced and immediate responses to an incident that includes both medical and security support within a single membership. GEAR also ensures any necessary costs are covered so as to prevent any delays in receiving the assistance that is needed.
- Travel businesses, such as consortiums, travel agencies, tour operators, travel insurers and airlines. The same benefits mentioned above apply here. However, in addition, GEAR can provide a revenue stream through commissions, while promising peace of mind to your clients (and yourself). Commissions are scalable in line with memberships sold.
- Individuals, from families and couples to individual global travellers.
For more information
If you’d like to get an instant quote or find out more about the GEAR or GEARx membership, including the optional GEARxConsult, go to www.sps-global.com/gear. You can also call +44 203 889 7025 or email sales@sps-gear.com.
World Safety Rankings
When looking at the latest Travel and Tourism Development Index, which was release in May 2022 by the World Economic Forum, it is easy to see why a specialist offering, such as GEAR, is needed for the international traveller. All the African countries have ranked in the lower half of the index, as have many of South American and Eurasian nations.
Although travel to any country will inherently carry risk, travellers to these particular regions should be concerned by the low health, hygiene, safety and security conditions. Travellers will want definitive access to a swift escape if the need arises (be it security or medical in nature), which is exactly the kind of support the GEAR packages offer. Travelling to these areas without GEAR or GEARx would be a risk if one truly thinks about it carefully.
Travellers will want definitive access to a swift escape if the need arises (be it security or medical in nature), which is exactly the kind of support the GEAR packages offer.
Some of the risk rankings from the Index:
| AFRICA | THE AMERICAS | EURASIA |
| 51 Egypt 62 Mauritius 68 South Africa 76 Botswana 78 Kenya 81 Tanzania 88 Namibia 89 Rwanda 98 Zambia 101 Ghana 105 Senegal 109 Malawi 110 Nigeria 111 Lesotho 113 Angola 114 Sierra Leone 115 Mali 117 Chad | 58 Colombia 59 Argentina 60 Panama 65 Peru 69 Dominican Republic 73 Ecuador 85 Trinidad and Tobago 91 Bolivia 96 El Salvador 97 Guatemala 99 Paraguay 104 Nicaragua 106 Honduras | 53 Romania 56 Slovak Republic 61 Armenia 63 Azerbaijan 66 Kazakhstan 70 Serbia 72 Albania 77 Moldova 87 North Macedonia 90 Kyrgyz Republic 92 Tajikistan 95 Bosnia and Herzegovina |
About the company
GEAR is new to the scene of travel assistance and response, but SPS Global Assistance Group – the creator of GEAR – has been around for a very long time and is no stranger to travel risk.
SPS Global Assistance Group has provided integrated risk, security, medical and crisis response solutions to its clients in more than 130 countries for over 30 years. It has guided and protected people in what can be described as truly extraordinary and often terrifying circumstances.
The Group’s purpose is to “calmly and efficiently support you and your team before, during and after something goes wrong. We are big enough to provide a global service but small enough to operate in an agile way, which ensures our rapid response to any situation,” according to their website.
SPS Global Assistance Group in a nutshell:
- A world leader in integrated risk, security, medical and crisis response solutions
- Established in 1991, with over three decades’ worth of experience
- In over 130 countries, it has supported individuals, families and organisations
- Offices in the UK, UAE, Singapore, Ireland and South Africa
- A 24-hour GEAR (Global Emergency Assistance and Response) Centre is maintained with failover procedures in place
- Proprietary technology and expert specialists power the GEAR Centre, proactively and efficiently handling the emergency assistance and response needs of clients worldwide
