HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

You can’t put a price tag on safety, but at the same time, you also have a budget to keep. What are the options out there for travel security services?

According to Bradley Allan, director of Allan & Associates, there are generally two ways such services are charged: By the day or on a subscription basis.

“For a set fee, many companies provide an online information service, with reports on countries from a political and security risk perspective,” he says. “Some sell individual reports for between US$30 and US$50.”

If you need a tailored, detailed pre-entry assessment done before you send someone to a country or make an investment there, the price ranges from US$10,000 to US$20,000.

Standard subscriptions can range from US$5,000 to US$10,000 a year, which comes with access to global information on various countries’ security situations and business risks.

The day rate usually applies to having an expert come in to give a workshop or presentation. Depending on the nature of the risk, it can be between US$1,000 and US$2,000.

The kind of information you can get from these services is varied. It can be as broad as the political situation of the country, to as small as how to get to the hotel from the airport safely. But even in some relatively safe and commonly visited Asian countries, it is not rare to run into scams, especially bogus police officers asking to check your wallet.

A number of security consultancies have 24-hour hotlines for subscribers to call in case of emergencies.

Reggie Ho