Travel Risk Management

Every time an employee travels, there is a risk that something harmful can happen to the employee or the company. Having an understanding of these risks, how employees can be impacted and the action that should be taken in case of an incident is known as Travel Risk Management. As companies are expanded, more employees are traveling and risks around the work increase, Travel Risk Management is an ever-increasing important factor.

Travel Risk Management does not just apply to companies with employees making long a transatlantic journey. Business travel is defined as any travel within 100 miles of the employee's home. Travel Risk Management even applies to employees even making short day trips to a client or another office location a relatively short distance away.

If your company has employees that travel, it is important for you to have a Travel Risk Management Plan that covers the types of risks that employees may face and the actions to be taken in case of an incident.

Travel management companies can play a primary role in assisting with travel risk management plans. They can help lay out a clear plan for what will happen if there is an incident - ranging from a traveler falling ill, being injured, a terrorist event or a natural disaster. The travel management company will often be responsible for carrying out the plan.

For example, in the case of a natural disaster, Safe Harbors will do a search for all current travelers in the region/city affected. Once it is determine who's in the region or will be traveling to/from the region in a chosen timeframe, the traveler and the company are contacted and alerted. Whenever possible, Safe Harbors will also assist with re-routing and re-booking.

Safe Harbors Travel Group is shaping a new age of business travel management. Safe Harbors’ expertise in business travel, global travel infrastructure, vendor management, expense and accountability reporting and travel information systems is helping clients achieve their business goals with a higher return-on-travel-investment. Headquartered in Baltimore, Safe Harbors provides global travel management to more than 100 corporate clients.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Jay_Ellenby/54919

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Travel To Tibet - How To Get There And Tibet Entry Permit

It is no more a hard thing to travel to Tibet for foreign tourists. You can take flight or train from many cities in China such as Beijing, Chengdu, Xi'an, Shanghai, Guangzhou, etc. For the moment, the most convenient places shall be Beijing and Chengdu. Xi'an is also a good choice but due to the limited flight (usually one flight only and not daily) and limited tickets of pass-by trains, it is still not easy to make connection there. You can also take a direct international flight from Kathmandu to Lhasa but which is not suggested except you have a tour there. According to a memo between the Chinese and Nepal governments, foreign tourists must obtain their China Visa in Kathmandu if they would like to enter from there, no matter if they get the visa already in their home country or not. This usually requires three days at least.

No matter which way you take, a Tibet entry permit is necessary for issuing the flight/train tickets.
This permit is released by the Tibet Tourism Bureau to officially licensed travel companies only. You shall provide a copy of your passport and visa with your Occupation info for the permit application. It usually takes five working days but we shall always try to apply for it as early as possible to secure a smooth trip since more and more travellers coming to Tibet making the queuing much longer than before. The cost is around 7USD charged by the government department. If you will travel outside Lhasa and some remote areas in Tibet, some other permits will be applied as well including the Alien's Travel permit, military permit, etc.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Sherry_Jia/82506

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The Wind Is Changing for Travel

Internet websites these days are probably in bigger numbers than there are sardines in the southern oceans and it is just very difficult to get what you are looking for easily, perhaps the Dolphins in the southern African coast will find it easier to feed on good sardines along the coastlines of the Indian Ocean shores.

In my experience good travel websites are really scattered in the universe of the web and for travelers is increasingly difficult to find what they want partly because travelers have become more adventurous and sophisticated, partly because there so many good companies offering amazing services out there that even for Google is difficult to classify them and the search results end up showing the travel websites that have god search engine optimization posing a fundamental question are the best optimized websites the best travel companies offering unparalleled services? The answer is probably not, but then I guess we can consider ourselves lucky that at least we get results in the search engines that more or less satisfy our desires.

I presume there is a need for good travel portals featuring great companies brought to the users in a way that still makes them dream about traveling and that satisfy the most sophisticated travelers that is inclusive of all companies that care for the environment, that respect the local communities where they operate, companies that care to give the customer the best and most authentic experience yet preserving their way of life and natural resources.

Maybe that is just a dream....

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Carlos_Cuzme/50456

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Bucharest, Romania - Another post-Soviet destination!

Cable cars still in use: Chiatura, Georgia

I am not quite sure why I find the post-Soviet countries so fascinating, but I do. Over the past ten years, I have visited all of those in Europe, except Montenegro, and it is quite remarkable how each has evolved since the end of the Soviet era.

Of particular interest to me have been the nastiest. Four weeks ago I visited Albania, and today, I am in Romania. So, accompanied by the interesting and knowledgeable Cristina Iosif of Unknown Bucharest, I set off for a primer on the communist regime of Nicolae Ceausescu, the dictator here from 1965 until the revolution of 1989.

 Soviet Street Artt from  Tirasapol,Trans Dneistra and Minsk, Belarus

I had read fairly widely about the country, although it must be said that there is less available in English than one might want, and I was aware of Romania’s reputation for utter brutality, and its decades-long attempt to deceive the west into believing somehow that Romania was a “reasonable” country. And whatever else Romania might have been, reasonable it was not.

A notice indicating that the building is
likely to collapse at any time! 

Memories of the period were obviously painful for Cristina, and more than once, her eyes shone red as she talked about one aspect of life or another; yet she, herself, led a “normal” life during Those Years. A serious chess player of international standard, the daughter of two working parents and self-described as “just an ordinary person”, Cristina’s insight was fascinating; not only in the detail, but more in the relaying and exposure of how people thought and survived under the megalomaniacal regime, and the reflections of ordinary life.

Surprising, in a way, but instantly understandable is that people simply lived their lives. To most, the working of their government was as distant as it is elsewhere, and because they knew no other way, their lives were normal. They went to school, played games, fell in love, built a life and went to work. That this was all some terrible façade was simply not thought about, and as such, life was tolerable.

There are actually remarkably few relics of the era, unless one includes the monstrous "Peoples' Palace" and some of the other grandiose developments that saw the city of Bucharest lose its soul and heritage to provide space for these hideous, but fascinating buildings.

The Parliamentary Palace in Bucharest

When asked about the lasting legacies, Cristine described the effect of the philosophy so intrinsic in the communist system of “Creating a New Man”, a phrase heard with minor variations throughout the socialist countries. In Romania, however, she explained how the legacy of this thinking was the creation of a society that is malleable and easily led to this day. As she described the transition of power 1989, it seemed more like an explanation of a coup, and the emerging leadership coming directly from the entrenched security services still retain power today; it was difficult not to feel a chill. 

Malta, Latvia - not much hard currency here.

A simple look at the city as one drives in from the airport or around the town shares a characteristic with so many developing countries, and belies any attempt to accurately seek statistical answers to economic questions. And it is simply this; for economic purposes the population is divided into two separate and parallel sets: those with access to hard currencies and those without. It is almost as simple as that. As goods flood into the now open markets from The West, they need to be purchased with hard currencies, or at least their nominal equivalent. Those fortunate enough, for example those in the tourist industry or involved with exports have Euros and Dollars and can play the global game. Those who don’t have access cannot do so.

Minsk - a local market

So superficially, the capitals look like thriving cities, but dig only a little deeper, travel only a little way from the hub of government and a completely different picture will emerge. It is one of poverty and pain, and it will take generations to erase.

It is quite fascinating to see the legacies of the soviet era; the construction, the utilitarian nature of life, the public art  (a disclaimer here; I am fascinated by Soviet bus-stops, and am planning a photo safari to capture some of the best in thie region at some point!) and the general ambience are so different from those of the west. Distinguished by the vast economic and social difference between the nomenclature, intellectuals and high government and the rest of the population, it is a sobering perspective of how imbalanced communities can become if the unequal access to resources and incomes is allowed to grown unchecked.

An old public phone

Romania is a captivating place, and a country that deserves extensive exploration. It is a country more than many that despite outward appearances is still locked in the past, and is finding it harder to shake off the discipline of the past than one might imagine, but as only a casual visitor I was fascinated and look forward to returning and exploring in depth. Explroing the deep countryside as well as the cities would make a most interesting expedition.

The extreme of thought-control: Pyonyang

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The North Pole; A Traveller's Final Frontier

Quite why tourist would want to visit the North Pole is open to debate, but each year a few hundred hardy souls reach this point of some geographically importance, but little social value. They arrive by foot, well actually on skis, by dog team, on ice-breaking ships, by helicopter and aircraft and even drop out of the sky under parachutes.

The lure of landmark destinations is strong, witness the curious crocodile-lines of climbers conquering Mt Everest, and the North Pole is a marquee destination; a very significant tick on one’s bucket list.

The choices, however, are diminishing fast. One of the Canadian airlines that used to offer  complex and difficult flights to the Pole have announced that they will no longer fly tourists, blaming warming weather and increasingly slushy landing surfaces. This claim seems to be repudiated by the Russians who offer a spectacular operation from Camp Borneo, supporting a significant number of polar assaults.

The Russian ice-breakers that have carried tourists on two or three sailings each year are now being brought back to serve in their original capacity of breaking ice, and within two seasons, there is like to be only one option for the intrepid, and well-heeled who what to drop into 90°N.

Reaching the pole seems to be a goal for the obsessed; while obviously money is a very significant factor, those who reach the top of the world do come from all walks of life. The wealthy rub shoulders with the obsessed at Camp Barneo (so named, it was confusingly explained, to distinguish it somehow from Borneo), as several dedicated skiers launch out on their challenge to reach the pole by their own power.

The Mess Tent at Barneo

At the North Pole

The journey is amazingly variable; although the camp starts at roughly 89°N and 100°E, it is floating, and during the 24-day season, it can move from 60 miles from the pole to over 150 miles. The skiers and those attacking the route with dog-teams need to know that they don’t know just how far they will have to travel. The general idea is to travel the “last degree”, or sixty miles, under one’s own power, but one simply never knows.

The Pole brings out the truly eccentric in its visitors. Some choose to dive under the ice, some jump out of helicopters and gently float to the ground; the games and activities that visitors dream up and enact certainly cover the spectrum of imagination.

 Arrive at the Pole any way that you want!

Why on earth anyone would want to run such an operation is also a very good question, and when I met the director, Victor Boyarshy in St. Petersburg last week, he was equally perplexed. “We have run this camp since 1993”, he said, “and it seems to be interesting”. It is an extraordinary achievement; everything has to be flown in and flown out using the rather extraordinary Ukrainian aircraft, the AN-74 and flexing this versatile machine to its maximum. Starting with the initial survey-helicopters who each year seek out a suitable area for the camp, the initial runway-clearing equipment is brought in and the strip, 1000m x 60m established.

The amazing Antonov 74 - inside and out!

The landing strip is certified by the Russian aviation authorities as suitable for use by commercial passengers, and this certification allows insurance, the first of the many tumblers to fall into position, to be obtained. Then the camp is erected, the generators installed, jet fuel imported, food and bedding brought up and all of this for twenty-four days of frenetic activity, and to accommodate about one hundred hardy adventurers.

Capm Barneo; 89N 110E

The camp opens in early April, before that it is dark and too cold, and by the end of the month, the leads in the ice make any sort of structure unfeasible. It is a very short window, and one that seems to be increasing in interest every year. Travelers need to book well in advance, and with prices starting at around US$20,000 plus flights, it probably requires some pre-planning for most.

The camp is exciting; new connections are being discussed, more visitors are expected and as peculiar as it sounds, the North Pole is starting to make it off many folks bucket lists!

If you are interested in visiting this amazing outpost, feel free to contact me (max@ttjtourism.com) and I will be happy to put you in touch with the right people.

All photographs provided by Company VICAAR / Camp Barneo

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The Baltics; Nine Interesting countries surrounding a fascinating sea!

I have not written much about The Baltics, and it is a sad omission. The Baltic Sea covers a vast area of northern Europe, with the Scandinavian countries forming its northern and western extremities, and Germany and a handful of small and rather fascinating countries its southern shores.

Riga, Latvia and the harbour in Stocholm

St. Petersburg

For most of the Cold War period, the region was the purview of a variety of elaborate Swedish and Finnish ferries, a few fishing boats and hundreds of miles of formidable borders. All this, of course, has changed completely, and now the nine countries that border the region, plus the peculiar Russian exclave of Kaliningrad,are absolutely worth exploring.

The article is prompted in a way but my being in St. Petersburg as I write, and realizing that I was in Hamburg only three weeks ago. The similarities between the two cities, at least superficially, is more than simply a coincidence.

The region was, back in the fifteenth century dominated by a commercial organization called the Hanseatic League; this vast confederation stretched from eastern Britain to the eastern reaches of the Baltic, and during its peak, controlled commercial traffic and also offered a forceful and reliable legal framework for the citizens of the countries over whom it held influence. Now most of the period’s visible artifacts are long gone, but there is a similarity in architecture, town structure and atmosphere in all of the great cities of this rather interesting period.

Malta, Latvia

While there are few remaining practical features, it should be noted that “Lufthansa”, the German airline as “Air Hansa”, and the ancient “Hansabank” now operates from Sweden as the “Swedbank”. There are, however, fascinating similarities that dominate this coastline. It takes little imagination as one wanders through the tottering back streets of Klaipeda in Lithuania, or the vast systems of docks and canals that comprise the Hamburg waterfront to imagine the power and strength, and indeed the supreme confidence that the Hanseatic League must have inspired.

Contemporary travelers, however, have considerably greater comfort and options for movement. It is most certainly possible to circumnavigate the Sea using a combination of public transportation and rented cars. From Hamburg one can travel along the coast through Poland and then, bypassing Kaliningrad and its visa issues, into the three countries known as The Baltics (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia).

Street Art, majestic in size, is everywhere

And these three countries are marvellous. Beautiful, compact, friendly, and (it must be said in the context of Scandinavia) eminently affordable, they offer visitors a fine chance to explore. Renting a car for a few days is the best way to do so, and by plotting a circuit one can enjoy the quirkiness of the region at one’s one pace.

Each country is different; linguistically, geographically and by temperament. As the Cold War ended, the Danish government took Lithuania under its wing, the Swedes “adopted” Latvia and the Finns deepened their ancient ties with the equally linguistically-challenged Estonians. These ties most certainly helped the three former soviet countries’transition into western Europe and the EU, and while they have had some bumps in the road, their position as growing economies and a part of the west is (fairly) secure.

For visitors, they are wonderful. Vilnius’ Old Town is a delight; ancient curly streets, small cafes, delightful arts shops and finely restored buildings, interesting seaside towns and villages in the countryside that time has simply forgotten. Riga’s rather imperial visage is beautifully counterbalanced by a unique display of hundreds of soviet-era aircraft in an eccentrically curated museum adjacent to the city’s airport. Inland towns are vivid, forgotten and really rather nice.

 The air museum at Riga Airport

And so to the north, and if one wants to go through the expense and hassle of obtaining a Russian visa, the city is really rather splendid. Its history is rich, its buildings lavish and the waterways that dominate the layout of St. Petersburgare delightful. But then again, there is the visa, and at a cost of approximately $300 + courier fees, and now the requirement to visit a consulate to have one’s finger prints taken, many will simply not bother, and take the ferry from Tallinnto Helsinki instead.

And so to the Finnish capital, and perhaps Europe’s most forgotten destination; “A poor second to Belgium when going abroad” as Monty Python once intoned. It is, notwithstanding, charming; heavy weatherproof buildings dominate an active waterline, and inland, Finland continues for miles and miles of Canadian Shield-type countryside, protected from foreigners by an impenetrable language, strange protocols involving plunging naked into lakes in the winter, and a culinary admiration for the more peculiar, and dare I say it “economical” parts of large fish.

Finally, to Stockholm, the jewel of the Baltics; there are overnight “ferries” that ply between the Finnish and Swedish capitals, and it is really the only way to travel. Vegas-like entertainment, blingy shopping and fine dining punctuate the 18 hour journey, and as you wake the ship will be meandering through the islands that make up the archipelago upon which Stockholm, my favourite European capital, is located.

The fqascinating "Vasa", to be seen at the "Vasa Museum" 

Eye-wateringly expensive, and equally gorgeous, it is a city to savour. Its grandeur, its location and topography and above all, it people are truly delightful, and offer visitors a glimpse into the richness that a progressive, historical and secure country can reach. There are some wonderfully quirky museums, terrific public spaces, a fine waterfront and endless diversions that can happily see many days pass by. 

One can travel easily through the region independently, or, of course, enjoy one of the many cruise lines that are offering a wide range of ports and combinations. 

An independent trip, would possibly start in Hamburg, travel to Gdansk and on to Warsaw by train for an onward flight to Tallinn. In Tallinn, one could rent a car and spend some days in a circuit of the three "Baltic States", and once back in Tallinn either continue to St. Petersburg and Helsinki by train, or directly on a farry. The ferry connection to Stockholm is simple, and from there to Copenhagen there are several daily trains. The final leg back to Hamburg could take advantage of the unique train-on-a-ferry option to complete this epic circumnavigation. Allow 16 - 20 days! 

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European Trains; I love 'em ...

I have, for the past ten days, been travelling in Europe to a tight schedule. Although nominally “retired”, but we shall explore that term at a later time, I have some interesting projects that require me to present myself at a variety of European locations within a relatively short timeframe.

My travel is not always glamorous.

For this, I have chosen a Eurail Pass. These formerly simply accessories now require the patience of a saint to decipher, there being so many options;  the options, of course, being (one feels) the reaction to so many “emerging” partners like Romania with whom Germany and France do not care to share the revenue on a simple, geographically proportionally basis. Or, frankly, any other; I digress.

I love German trains; clean, efficient and quick, they epitomize travel in 21^stand possibly the 22^nd century, and have the ability to whizz one around the continent at a dizzying rate. However, it must be said, they don’t always work so well, and with the emotional spark of a lactose-intolerant stevedore, they are known to become sluggish. 

Clean, efficient and devoid of passengers. 

Three trains out of three yesterday were late, and I don’t mean by two minutes. They were tardy by an hour or so, and each an independent journey. No need here to muddy the waters with obsolete references to railway-punctuality in bygone eras, but one wonders what happened and just who could get the trains moving on time.

Then, there are, astonishingly, trains in Germany and France that are designed to be slow. I was a touch confused as to the purpose of three lines of immobile traffic at the Hamburg Altona station. Well, it turned out, by acute observation on my part, that they were lines for the overnight car-transporter trains to Lörrach, a town that nobody has ever heard of, but lies across the border with Switzerland from Basel. One loads one’s car, one sleeps (perhaps) and one wakes up eleven hours (and three minutes, but I wouldn’t be too sure about that precision) to the south ready for a triangular chocolate bar.

 Loading the night train in Hamburg 

It is brilliant; there are several of these “motorail” options in Europe, and I have often wondered why this option does not readily exist in Canada. To the extent that some years ago I wanted to partner with the fine Winnipeg-based forwarding company TransX to provide exactly this service; ship your car to Halifax and drive it back … a simple and potentially rewarding concept. It went nowhere, but that was my fault, and like most great ideas it lurks somewhere in my imagination.

However, I digress. Germany is a large country. Not really large enough for a domestic train to take eleven hours without some pretty nifty signaling, but big enough that I shall fly to Munich tomorrow rather than enjoy the panoramic view of trees that line the railway track to the south.

I like train travel though; it clears one’s mind, it avoids all manner of bizarre and predatory “security features” that are so redolent of air travel today, and it offers the mind a fertile and evolving playing-field for the imagination to exercise.

And believe me, my mind needs space in which to operate.

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