The threat of terrorism seems ever-present these days. So when it comes to recommending overseas destinations what ‘duty-of-care’ should event organizers show when proposing where to go? If you’re too cautious delegates don’t show up…but if you’re too creative, they may die.

No-one should die as the result of an incentive or a conference, should they? Although we all take our profession very seriously and will defend best practice, creativity and doing unusual things to the hilt, none of us would want to be responsible for fatalities when managing groups.

But the pressure to come up with ever-more exciting destinations and things to do means you could find yourself recommending certain destinations about which we know very little in depth. Do we really know what is actually going on beyond the confines of the luxury hotel we have chosen for the group?

In the late 1990s I found myself on a fam trip in Jordan. Having enjoyed a wonderful few days in the south of the country, seeing the options for incentive groups and enjoying the hospitality of local folk I had a spare day in Amman, the capital. I resolved to explore the city by foot that Friday. After a lazy morning I got ready to spend the rest of the day out and about. I put the TV on. Less than a mile from my hotel, as shown on the local news, demonstrators were burning effigies of US and UK politicians and stoking the bonfire with US and UK flags. Being conspicuously British with my red hair, white face and western clothes I decided, on second thoughts, to just spend the day relaxing by the pool.

Obviously, one image on television does not mean the entire country is  a no-go area forever. But I was genuinely taken aback that I had not bothered to find out about attitudes to Westerners before visiting Jordan or had even bothered to take any advice about whether going about alone in Amman, as a Westerner, was safe. Even today the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Travel Advisory Service (www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice), about Jordan, states: ‘Stay away from downtown Amman and the centres of other towns and cities after Friday midday prayers.’

The recent ‘travel advisory’ about Tunisia prompted me to look up Tunisia on the FCO website as I had enjoyed several holidays there in the past and had taken many corporate groups there over the years. The entry says:’ The FCO advises against all but essential travel to Tunisia with a high threat of terrorism.’ The trouble is it took a high profile rogue terrorist attacking UK visitors on a beach to raise Tunisia to this highest level of threat.

This is not surprising when you understand what the FCO’s real mission is. Its reason for existence is ‘to promote the UK’s interests overseas, supporting UK citizens and business around the globe’. No self-respecting promotional organization would therefore dis its own clients unless it really had to. So it comes as no surprise that unless things get really bad, the FCO is not going to say very much to help fellow professionals.

Clearly Iraq, Iran, Libya and Syria are places to avoid right now. But what about Lebanon and Israel? When you read the advice closely you will find that only certain areas present a risk to life and in many cases resort areas in these destinations are still deemed to be okay. That was before the Tunisian atrocity, obviously.

But what about places like Egypt, a popular and well-used incentive destination? The Foreign Office advice, currently, is don’t go there, except for the tourist bits. Really? In short, most of the Middle East and North Africa is a potential disaster waiting to happen for Western visitors, if you believe the media.

In the wider world both Burma and Indonesia are rated as having a high threat of terrorism. Even the Ukraine is noted for the threat of bombs in cafes in Kiev. The Philippines should be avoided (I did not know that) and you can forget Pakistan. The good news is that most Westerners will be safe in Albania, even though most citizens there carry guns, just in case.

Destination Advisory Notices from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, July 2015

There were 225 countries/destinations listed on the FCO website with advisory notices ranging from low to high terrorist or crime threat. This extract highlights current and historic incentive travel destinations and how they are rated.

Low risk of terrorism/crime               High terrorism/crime risk
Aruba                                                                 Brazil
Antigua                                                              Burma
Bahamas                                                           Egypt
Barbados                                                          Honduras (crime)
China                                                                 India (partial)
Cyprus                                                               Iran
Greece                                                              Philippines
Japan                                                                Russia (south)
Morocco                                                           Thailand (partial)
USA                                                                   Tunisia

It is assumed that places not mentioned pose no or minimal risk to travellers from the UK.

Do we, as organizers have any duty of care when it comes to destination choice? After all, clients are all grown-ups and where they go is surely up to them? Wrong. It is an integral part of our job to offer the best possible advice, usually in spite of what is on the FCO’s advisory site. If in doubt, don’t go. The only way to discover this is to do a site inspection and see it for yourself. Honduras may well be a wonderful country. But it has the highest murder rate in the world per capita. Not sure how Honduras would go down with a high profile client with a global reputation for playing it safe.

The counter argument is that surely we should be helping to support countries struck by terrorism in their hour of need? Not really. Ours is a business proposition to a risk-averse client who wants a safe environment for their corporate event. Our job is not to be proxy marketers for national governments that cannot control their own dissidents. Harsh, but fair?

Inevitably this leads to destination shortlists which err on the side of caution. They have to, if the client is going to confirm the event. People love to listen to comedians but no-one buys investments from one. It’s the same with travel. What corporate clients need is a destination that is easily accessible from the home-base, good standard hotels, interesting and safe access to sights, quality restaurants and good meeting facilities. If it’s excitement you want as a corporate buyer, try barrel-rolling in a fighter jet over the Nevada desert. But don’t expect many participants to actually do it.

By the way, the safest city in the world according to the Safe Cities Index, 2015, using qualitative and quantitative data, is Tokyo. It’s so safe that the FCO does not even give it a mention on its list of 225 places to think about when travelling on business or pleasure abroad.  I guess that if there’s no threat to life and limb, it won’t be on the list. But neither does it figure highly on the list of popular, global incentive destinations. Funny that?

John Fisher