International SOS warns of an increasingly complex landscape for corporate mobility

The growing complexity of the international landscape is forcing companies to strengthen their policies for protecting corporate travelers. This was highlighted during the 2026 International SOS Annual Conference, where experts in security, health, and geopolitics analyzed how shifts in the global balance of power are transforming corporate international mobility.
 

Regional conflicts, tensions between major powers, political instability, health risks, and mobility challenges are all part of an increasingly unpredictable environment for organizations with international operations. In this context, corporate travel and mobility managers face the challenge of ensuring the safety of employees on the move without compromising the commercial and operational activities required by their businesses.

During the event, International SOS presented its perspective on the main risks currently affecting corporate travelers. These include threats to the physical safety of workers, damage to critical infrastructure, deteriorating security conditions, communications failures, disinformation campaigns, and mobility restrictions resulting from crises or conflicts. Added to these are health-related factors such as reduced healthcare capacity, drug shortages, or the emergence of infectious outbreaks.

One of the most relevant aspects for business travel professionals was the presentation of the company?s global risk map, which shows howhow virtually every region of the globe is exposed to some form of geopolitical tension, conflict, complex electoral process, or situation of instability that could affect international travel.

The geopolitical dimension was the focus of one of the central debates at the meeting. Under the title ?The World in Tension: How Has the Nature of Conflicts and the Exercise of Power Changed?»», Ricardo Lenoir, head of the Information and Assistance Unit at International SOS, moderated a discussion with analyst Mayte Carrasco and José Pardo de Santayana, vice president of the CEU Royal University Institute of European Studies.

The experts agree that the world is undergoing a profound transformation marked by the confrontation between blocs, competition for strategic resources, and the weakening of the globalization model that has characterized recent decades.

Carrasco noted that humanity is immersed in a ?third planetary revolution?, while Pardo de Santayana has described the current moment as a turning point whose outcome will depend largely on political leadership and the evolution of international relations.

For companies, these trends have direct implications. Corporate travel no longer depends solely on economic or commercial factors, but also on geopolitical variables capable of altering a destination?s security conditions within hours. The ability to monitor risks, anticipate scenarios, and react quickly has become a fundamental element of any corporate travel program.

In this regard, International SOS has highlighted the role of the on-site assessments it conducts periodically to verify the quality of medical care, security protocols, and the response capacity of local providers. The company carries out around 250 reconnaissance missions per year and has a network of more than 4,000 medical professionals, 200 security experts, 29 care centers, and more than 90,000 providers across 250 countries and territories.