Have you changed your business travel plans or habits because of terrorism?

A very dear friend of ours lives in Mumbai.

In fact, she persuaded me to drink coconut water (an excellent cure for "traveler's tummy") in the Sea Lounge in the Taj Mahal hotel, across from the Gateway to India monument on the Mumbai waterfront last March.

She works at the Times of India and was in the neighborhood of the recent attacks in Mumbai. In fact, the Times of India building was fired upon. We had not heard from her for several days and did not know what to think, but I'm relieved to report she's unhurt. She just didn't have access to email for a few days. She watched the Taj and the Oberoi go up in flames.

My husband and I were discussing the events in Mumbai over the weekend, while sitting in a restaurant in Salt Lake City. Ironically, while we were sitting there, we saw lights through the window and heard sirens outside. There had been a very bad car crash outside the restaurant.

This put these events in perspective for us. We are concerned for the safety and happiness of our friends and family, wherever they are, and we take what precautions we think are prudent when we travel, but the fact remains that the statistical likelihood of being harmed in a terrorist attack is so low it is almost negligible compared to everyday risks like driving a car or crossing the street in our own neighborhood.

Would I return to Mumbai tomorrow? Absolutely. Would I stay in the Taj or the Oberoi? Absolutely, if they're open. They are beautiful, historic, wonderful hotels and will be so again.


I posted the question on my Linked In profile, and wanted to share some of the responses with you:

Have you changed your business travel plans or habits because of terrorism?

Here are the responses I received.

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No. But, I am keeping extra time for obvious checks and delays at check-points during travel.

I am avoiding meeting people in soft targets, and keeping the entry and exit routes in perspective while entering a crowded place.

Subhas C Biswas
Trainer, Consultant and Auditor (9001, 14001, 16949 & 18001). subhascb@gmail.com
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I will probably be staying at less high profile hotels for future trips to locations that may be targeted.

Other than that and the points mentioned by Subhas, I will not make any changes.

Martin Kubler FIH
International Hotelier
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I have made allowances for longer delays at airports for security checks and certainly I pay more attention to the news of what is going on at my destination. On the whole NO.

Oussama Salah
Head of Quality Assurance and Safety at AJA
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I continue to travel as I have always done even after 911. If an incident of terrorism had occured somewhere today I will not be rushing over there but if I had to go there in a week or two I have no problem in visiting that city on business. Terrorism has become a worldwide threat and we should not let that get on top of us. We need to stay on top!

Cheers

Raja
International Strategic Business Consultant, Life Science, Animal Health, Pest Control, raja@biznezconsultant.com
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Dear Paula,

I was at the SF airport while all hell broke loose in Mumbai. And honestly it was very frustrating considering that I had at least 4 meetings while I was in US where the decision-makers were to visit us in India between Dec and Feb and my first reaction was that they will now not come. But I spoke with them on Friday and they all plan to stick by the initial itinerary irrespective!

So, I think that today a business traveler’s mentality is so attuned to terrorism that such incidents rarely have effect on their direct and physical dealing with any region globally. I mean you could be in Paris, New York or Joberg and still be under as much threat.

Of course unless you are talking about war zones where chances are that on any given day you would get caught in crossfire, that being said I think while visiting India fighting pollution, water-born diseases and traffic is a bigger challenge than terrorism!

On the whole I am kind of happy that the security checks at both airports and hotels will get ramped-up, it will make me feel more secure. I will make more time for all of that.

But other than that me or anyone I know personally is no way changing travel plans because of the utterly sick yet freak incident in Mumbai.

Thanks,

Viraj
Viraj Kalra
Vice President Animation and Media at Planman Technologies

PS - I read the content you sent across earlier and I think it is a great read and as informative as it gets.

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Given the overall freak-out of 9/11 and the London-based cell that sparked the liquids bans/restrictions, Mumbai's attacks won't have that much of an impact on domestic US or US to EU business travel. For all of the horror of Mumbai, the US DHS "alert" is so high as it is that the attacks didn't even register a blip. (No doubt the fact that the US has so little influence on Indian domestic policies plays the most significant role here.)

That said, I would encourage President Obama's DHS people to drop the daily security "alert" from Orange back to Green. We've had seven years of "high-alert" conditions now, it's the norm. Put some respect back into the system, and then TSA could raise green to yellow for things like Mumbai.

Edward Branley
Storage Area Networking Expert (HDS & EMC), Published Author, New Orleans Historian, Streetcar Historian/Afficianado
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Hi Paula,

I have changed any plans. I think it would be a shame if anyone did, albeit appropriate precautions should be taken by all including the authorities. We just can't let terrorists run our world.

Josh.
Josh Chernin
General Manager, Itinerant Writer, and Decent Little League Coach

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No. I plan to work at home just the way I was before Mumbai.

Serously, I told my friend Kevin Wall that I'd head to Mumbai this week, to help hold together the Live Earth-India concert that was scheduled for Mumbai on Dec. 7, but Al Gore, Wall, and Rejendra Pachauri canceled the event. It is easy for me to say since my name isn't on the line for it, but I do feel that it was the wrong move, and that Gore was a fraidy cat for pushing the other two partners to cancel.

First of all, there's so much vigilance, Mumbai is going to be one of the safer mega-cities for a while. Terrorists hit where people aren't looking, not where they ARE. So it is kind of naive to back out bc of a 'heightened threat level.'

Second, they could've scaled back the concert into something very small, somber and symbolic, all Indian artists, and it would have been an even more important event than any kind of 'Bon Jovi Against Global Warming' concert would have been...but they backed out. It was a gigantic opportunity and they missed it. Sad but true. This has a down-impact for sure on travel and smothers what could have been the first positive news from Mumbai since the attacks.
Links:

• http://www.gamechangers.com

Mike Bonifer
Author, Educator, CEO at GameChangers

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Unfortunately, I've been forced to cancel today's arrival in Bangkok and travel via Singapore. On the return portion of the trip, I hope to be able to stop in Bangkok. I will be careful. But I refuse to allow terrorists to keep me from traveling. I could more likely be killed jay-walking in Paris or in NYC.

Links:
http://www.bonjourparis.com
http://www.tripso.com

Karen Fawcett
President at Paris New Media, LLC & BonjourParis.com

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Paula,
Can you predict where the next terrorism attack will take place? I can't, so how should I change my plans for business or pleasure?

If people begin to run scared of a perceived attack, then they win! My ego will not permit it. Which city will you give up:
NY
Paris
LA
Madrid
London
Dublin
Jerusalem
Cairo
Mumbai
Amman
Argentina
What have I forgotten?

Adrienne Sasson
Travel Specialist (LION) at Rubinsohn Travel

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Nope, I have not changed any travel plans. But surely staying away from gatherings or any other crowded places

Pooja Gupta
Project coordinator at Brickwork

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Hallo Paula,

Thank you for this question - which is interesting because the welfare of our global economy, even in these uncertain times, depends for a great deal on the continued exchange of capital, goods and services worldwide.

As far as I am concerned, I guess I wouldn't cancel a businesstrip to Mumbai if the business requires my traveling there. It seems to me that there is no more actual danger, either in Mumbai or anywhere in the world, than one would come across in Belgium when negotiating the ring road around Brussels, or any road of the sorts, during rush hour.

As a matter of fact, terrorist threats pose a problem all over the world, and no less in Europe than anywhere else. I guess we will just have to learn how to cope with a lasting feeling of unsafety and uncertainty created by our current political turmoil.

I realize that this attitude of mine might well be influenced by the mere fact of my belonging to an at first sight insignificant national citizenship (Belgium). I am not quite sure that I would be as much at ease if I would be holding an American passport.

However: Even for Americans, the news might not be all that bad, for, as Fareed Zakaria has mentioned in his much acclaimed The Post American World (2008), "It seems that we are living in crazily violent times, but don't believe everything you see on television. Our anecdotal impression turns out to be wrong. War and organized violence have declined dramatically over the last two decades."

So, it appears that, maybe, our world and our global exchange situation isn't in such bad health after all.

Kind regards,

Michaela Broeckx
International & Intercultural Business Trainer

Links:
http://www.fareedzakaria.com/

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What do you think? Reply below or write to paula@ravenwerks.com