Some affluent travelers rely on security and protection experts. It's pretty well known that U.S. executives and business owners can be targets for ne're-do-wells as they trot around globe doing business. Because travel is unavoidable, says Global Security Associates (GSA), company officers and other high-end trippers should recognize that preparation is the key to avoiding danger.

Threats such as kidnapping and robbery are a reality of the world today. But, armed with the right information and properly prepared, U.S. travelers can make themselves less vulnerable to attack. For example, it may be handy to know that murder isn't much on the minds of Mexico City's airport thugs, according to GSA CEO William McGuire.

Help

"In general they will not kill you in Mexico City," says McGuire. But, he adds, Mexican miscreants are apt to snatch you from the airport, rob you, drain your checking account at gun point and then dump you on the road from a speeding car.

In some cases the very help companies enlist to safeguard executives can have unfortunate consequences. Kidnappers in Columbia have carved out a small industry by absconding with foreigners reckoned to have kidnapping and ransom insurance.

Risks to travelers are so prevalent that insurers are launching "luxury risk mitigation services" for their high-end customers. These services include access to personal-security consultants, travel-safety experts and household-employee consultants to help ferret out potential criminal- or terrorist-affiliated moles.

Mineola, N.Y.-based GSA plays a role in this risk mitigation by evaluating regions and travel itineraries to formulate "personal safety appraisals," sending a team ahead to scour around if it has to.

GSA also keeps watch over criminal and political developments around the globe and feeds that intelligence to its clients and field agents in daily briefings. It also provides personal- and residential-security services in the U.S. and overseas. -FWR

.