Executive Travel To Colombia &
Exploring Travel Security Services

Executive Travel to Colombia: Know The Risks & Exploring Travel Security

Executive travel to Colombia, South America, doesn’t come without significant security risks. Any senior leader planning to visit this country for business must be thinking several steps ahead in order to ensure their safety. Executive protection and private drivers are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to safe executive travel to South America. 

Effective risk management in the executive travel space requires a dedicated security company to gather intelligence and monitor the movements of the traveling executive, addressing every detail of the travel arrangements. Know the risks of travel to Colombia and utilize security resources that bring together both intelligence and executive protection agents. 

Executive Travel to Colombia: Risks of Political Demonstrations

Colombia as a country continues to have a history of heated political division, with protests and demonstrations occurring far more frequently when compared to North America. Getting caught up in an unexpected protest or political rise exposes your executive team to significant travel delays, personal injuries, and sometimes wrongful detention. These protest events continue to be highly unpredictable, organizing in a matter of hours, blocking major roadways, and even cutting off access to international airports.

Never turn a blind eye to safety and stay informed of the most present dangers facing executives traveling to Colombia.

While many security companies preach about the importance of protective drivers, even the most experienced personal driver can be caught off guard by a flash protest. In these cases, the only option for employers is to use information to their advantage. AFIMAC offers both security resources located directly in Colombia, but also a number of intelligence gathering tools that can help plan for unexpected risks. 

Gather information on your destination and carefully identify potential risks, then closely monitor the present dangers of political protest upon arrival. Placing the right information in the hands of your traveling executives helps them avoid risks before they occur, while our own executive protection agents adjust travel plans accordingly. AFIMAC’s social listening offerings are able to tap into digital chatter in an effort to predict an upcoming protest. 

Visiting Remote Jobsites in Colombia

South America remains an unpredictable destination, especially if your executive team is tasked with traveling beyond the country’s major cities. As a North American executive, conducting business and inspecting job sites may call for visiting rural areas that are incredibly easy to get lost in. As a traveling executive, the last thing that should be done is to pull over and begin asking the locals for directions. Simply looking lost in a rural part of Colombia can draw unwanted attention from locals and organized criminals, while a freshly pressed suit and luxury watch presents an opportunity for bad actors.

In Colombia, road maintenance standards often do not match what is considered “normal” in North America, and simply renting a car presents its own security risks.  As a country that has long been impacted by war, heading off of major roads and into more remote parts of the country exposes travelers to the risk of being impacted by landmines. One of the most common travel scams sees bad actors on the side of the road, flagging down travelers for roadside assistance, ultimately taking advantage of a good samaritan.

Kidnapping For Ransom Travel Risks

The most extreme risk facing executives and high-net-worth individuals visiting Colombia is kidnapping. This nightmare situation is a lose-lose for all parties involved including employers and the executive’s family members. Criminals looking to extort money from executives continue to become more articulate in their efforts, often scouting out potential targets upon arrival and then arranging something more complex at a later time. Bad actors often use social media to their advantage, collecting sensitive information online and tracking the movements of their targets, sometimes for days at a time.

Many of these risks are exclusive to the C-suite and require full-service security teams to accompany the “VIP” throughout the entire journey. These executive protection services are a small price to pay for the peace of mind they bring, avoiding the costly and potentially dangerous consequences of not utilizing them.

Executive Travel to Colombia and Travel Security Services Available By AFIMAC Global

Executive travel security works hand-in-hand with an employer’s obligation to provide a safe space to work, even if the job site is in Colombia. Use every tool available to protect your executive leadership team including intelligence gathering, social media monitoring, protective drivers, and executive protection agents.

AFIMAC Global offers full-service security solutions for travel to Colombia, with many resources already stationed abroad. We remain highly capable of assessing the complex risks of travel to South America, offering incredible resources that can ensure the safety of your team no matter the challenges. Connect with us directly and begin the process of mitigating risk and ensuring your workforce never gets caught up in political demonstrations or kidnapping attempts. 

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