Travel Security for Executives and High-Profile Families

Travel security is the planning that keeps you safe when you are away from home. It means understanding the risks at your destination before you go, choosing drivers, hotels and local partners you can trust, protecting your devices and documents, varying your movements, and agreeing in advance what happens if something goes wrong. Executives and high-profile families need it most because travel takes them out of the routines and places where their protection is strongest.

For many trips that planning is enough. Where the risk is higher, close protection that travels with you covers the journey from your front door to your return. This guide sets out what to plan, in the order you will need it.

The short version:

Assess the trip before you book it: the destination, the people, the purpose and your own profile.
Arrange vetted transport for arrival and for every journey you can plan.
Choose hotels and rooms with security in mind, and keep your plans to a small circle.
Travel with clean devices and copies of your documents.
Vary your routes and timings, and keep your location off social media.
Use local partners you have checked, with one person coordinating them.
Know who to call and what happens next if there is a medical emergency, an arrest, unrest or a kidnap.

Before You Go: Assess the Trip

Every plan starts with a travel risk assessment. It looks at four things together:

The destination. Crime, political stability, unrest, terrorism, natural hazards, the quality of local healthcare and how the local police and courts work. Risks change between cities and even between districts.
You. Your public profile, wealth, business, nationality and anything that makes you of interest to criminals, activists, journalists or a foreign state.
The purpose. A family holiday, a board meeting, a negotiation or a public appearance each carries different exposure.
The plan. Where you will stay, how you will move, who knows your itinerary and where you will be most predictable.

Start with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s travel advice for each country, published on GOV.UK, and sign up for its email alerts for the places you are visiting. Then add what applies to you personally: a recent dispute, coverage in the local press, or a business that is unpopular in the region. Organisations that send staff abroad may also look at ISO 31030, the international standard for travel risk management.

A risk assessment before you travel turns this into decisions: which routes and venues to avoid, which journeys need a security driver, whether you need protection for all or part of the trip, and what the emergency plan is.

Insurance and Medical Cover

Check that your travel insurance covers where you are going and what you will do there, including medical treatment and evacuation home. Many policies exclude countries the FCDO advises against visiting. People at higher risk may also hold kidnap and ransom insurance, which usually gives access to specialist response consultants; its existence should be known to as few people as possible. Take enough of any regular medication for the whole trip plus a margin, in its original packaging with a copy of the prescription, and check that it is legal at your destination.

Getting Around: Drivers and Vehicles

Journeys are where most people are exposed: arriving at an airport, leaving a hotel, travelling between meetings at predictable times. Pre-arranged transport removes the uncertainty of taxis and ride-hailing apps.

Book arrival transport in advance, with a driver who will hold a sign that does not show your name or company.
Use trained security drivers on journeys that matter: they plan routes and alternatives, watch for anyone following, and keep the car secure while you are away from it.
Check the provider: how drivers are vetted, what insurance they hold, how vehicles are maintained and how they handle confidentiality.
Know your car: confirm the driver’s name and the vehicle before you get in.

Our guide to choosing a personal security driver covers what to ask in detail, and our post on VIP airport transfer vehicles explains the vehicle side.

Hotels and Accommodation

Choose accommodation for security as well as comfort:

Controlled access: a staffed entrance, key cards for lifts and floors, and as few public ways in as possible.
Room position: away from the ground floor but within reach of fire service ladders, near but not next to an exit, and away from busy public areas.
Book discreetly: some hotels will register you under another name, and staff should not confirm your room to callers.
On arrival: find the emergency exits, check the door and window locks, and use the safe for passports and devices you leave behind.
Private residences and villas need the same checks: who holds keys, who works there, what alarms there are, and how quickly help would arrive.

For longer stays, or a family travelling with staff, the accommodation should be looked at in advance by the people responsible for your security.

Devices and Information

Your phone and laptop carry your itinerary, contacts and business. They are worth protecting as carefully as your passport.

Travel light: take the devices and data you need, not everything. Some organisations issue clean travel devices for higher-risk destinations.
Lock and encrypt: strong passcodes, encryption switched on, and remote wipe ready.
Avoid unknown networks and chargers: use your own mobile data or a travel router rather than hotel or café Wi-Fi, and your own charger rather than public USB points.
Know the local rules: some countries restrict encryption tools or virtual private networks, and border officers in some countries can ask to inspect devices.
Keep your plans private: share the itinerary with those who need it, and post photographs only after you have left a place.
Afterwards: change passwords you used abroad and check devices for anything unfamiliar.

Our guide to counter-surveillance explains how to tell if someone is taking an interest in your movements.

Varying Your Routine

Predictability is what makes a person easy to target. On a trip of more than a day or two, vary departure times and routes, avoid using the same entrance every time, and do not announce plans in advance. Have a second route for important journeys and a fallback meeting point if the group is separated. Our checklist for secure travel contingencies sets out backup routes, contacts and documents step by step.

Local Partners Abroad

Families and executives who travel often rely on partners in each country: drivers, protection officers, venue security and fixers. The quality of those partners decides the quality of the protection.

Vet every partner: their licensing under local law, their insurance, their references and who they have worked for, and whether the people who turn up are the people you were told about.
One person in charge: a single coordinator who briefs every partner, holds the plan and is reachable at any hour, so the family is not managing several firms in several time zones.
Clean handovers: when protection passes from one team to another, at an airport or a border, the incoming team should already know the plan, the people and the risks.
Respect local norms: in some places a visible team draws attention and in others it is expected. A good partner knows the difference, and which laws govern what security staff may do.
Agree communications: how the team reaches you, how you reach them, and what happens if phones fail.

What to Carry

A few simple things limit the damage if a bag or phone is lost or stolen:

Copies of documents: a photocopy of your passport kept apart from the original, and scans stored securely online.
Cards with limits: lower the contactless limit on your cards in your banking app, carry one card separately as a spare, and know how to freeze a card at once.
A bag that closes: a cross-body bag or one with zips that face your body is harder to open in a crowd.
A charged phone and a backup: a power bank, emergency numbers written down, and offline maps of the places you are visiting.
A small first aid kit, and in remote areas a way to call for help without mobile signal, where its use is legal.

If Something Goes Wrong

Agree in advance what happens, and who decides, in each of the situations that matter:

Medical emergency: the nearest hospital of the right standard, how to reach your insurer’s assistance line, and when to arrange evacuation home.
Arrest or detention: a local lawyer’s number and how to contact the British embassy or consulate. GOV.UK sets out what consular staff can and cannot do.
Unrest or a natural disaster: where to shelter, how to stay in contact, and the trigger for leaving early.
Lost passport: how to get an emergency travel document.
Kidnap or a threat: who the family calls first, who speaks for the family, and the specialist response your insurer or adviser provides. Keep details of any kidnap cover to as few people as possible.

Everyone travelling should know the plan, including children old enough to understand it and staff travelling with the family.

When to Take Protection With You

Protection on a trip is worth considering when the destination carries a high risk of crime or unrest, when you have a public profile there, when there is a known threat, when you are attending public events, or when children travel without you. It can cover the whole trip, the riskiest days, or particular journeys such as arrival and departure. The close protection teams guide explains how a team plans and works.

FAQs

What is travel security?

Travel security is the planning that keeps a person safe away from home. It covers assessing the destination and your own profile, arranging vetted transport and accommodation, protecting devices and documents, varying your movements, using trustworthy local partners, and agreeing what happens in a medical emergency, an arrest, unrest or a kidnap. For higher-risk trips it can include protection officers who travel with you.

Do executives need close protection when they travel?

Not always. Many trips need good planning, a vetted driver and a sensible hotel. Close protection is worth considering when the destination is high-risk, when the executive has a public profile or a known threat, when they attend public events, or when the business is controversial locally. A travel risk assessment decides how much protection is proportionate and for which parts of the trip.

How do I protect my phone and laptop when travelling?

Take only the devices and data you need, keep them locked and encrypted, and make sure you can wipe them remotely. Use your own mobile data or a travel router rather than public Wi-Fi, and your own charger rather than public USB points. Check local rules on encryption and device inspection, and change passwords you used abroad when you return.

What should a family travel security plan include?

A family plan covers the destination risks, who knows the itinerary, transport for every planned journey, accommodation checks, copies of documents, insurance and medical arrangements, and a communications plan. It sets out what happens if someone is separated, ill, arrested or threatened, and who coordinates. Children old enough to understand should know the basics, including a meeting point and who to call.