ISO 31030 Begins with Understanding the Landscape

Why Threat Intelligence Is the Foundation of Compliant Journey Planning

When ISO 31030 was released, it set a new global benchmark for travel risk management. No longer was it enough to rely on policy frameworks or historical knowledge, organisations were now expected to actively identify, assess, and manage travel-related risks. And at the core of this standard is a fundamental concept: understanding the landscape before movement begins.

At GardaWorld, that understanding is built on one pillar, threat intelligence. Not as a passive feed of information, but as an integrated, live-operational system that informs every journey we support, from planning through to execution and debrief.

We begin with a strategic layer of risk monitoring powered by our in-house platform, Crisis24 Horizon. Horizon tracks developments across political, security, infrastructural, environmental, and public health domains, delivering real-time alerts mapped directly against each traveller’s route and itinerary. Our operations centre has full visibility over changing risk conditions and can respond immediately, whether that means rerouting, deploying additional support, or notifying clients of a developing issue.

Yet, threat intelligence is more than knowing what’s happening, it's also about knowing how the environment will respond. That’s where our RAM (Risk Assessment and Mitigation) reports come in. These are not static documents; they are dynamic operational tools built specifically for the journey at hand. A RAM report might detail recent criminal incidents along a planned highway corridor, outline community sentiment in peri-urban zones, assess the presence of non-state actors, or provide guidance on navigating regions with active demonstrations or fuel shortages.

Each Journey Management Plan integrates medical readiness assessments, supported by Intaworld, our proprietary platform for medical response intelligence. IntaWorld is a secure client portal that provides access to vetted medical facilities, travel risk resources, and support tools. It includes hospital listings, emergency contact directories, travel advisories, and useful partner platforms, all designed to support duty of care and risk management for international travellers.

Through Intaworld, we identify stabilisation points, trauma centres, medevac landing zones, and access routes across a wide range of urban and remote environments. We assess not just whether a facility exists, but its current capacity, reliability, and the time required to reach it based on current traffic, road conditions, or disruptions.

For executive and critical travel, that level of precision is non-negotiable. If a client is operating in a region with limited emergency response infrastructure, we design their itinerary with proximity to viable medical options in mind. In practice, this means every movement is supported by a fully defined medical contingency plan, not an afterthought.

Critically, intelligence also comes from our field network, the people on the ground. Our embedded drivers, vetted vendors, and regional operatives provide real-time insights into localised disruptions. These include issues that may not yet be publicly reported: unauthorised checkpoints, protest blockades, or spikes in opportunistic crime. This human intelligence is filtered, validated, and integrated into our live operational picture, often giving us hours of lead time before a threat escalates.

The result is a layered, adaptive threat intelligence model. Horizon provides constant environmental scanning. RAM reports interpret patterns and build contextual analysis. Intaworld enables precise medical contingency mapping. And our local network gives us immediate ground-truth feedback. Combined, this ensures we are not only ISO 31030-compliant, but we are also operationally prepared.

And that’s the key distinction. ISO 31030 does not expect organisations to eliminate all risks. It requires that they understand the risks relevant to their travellers, apply appropriate controls, and stay responsive to change. Our threat intelligence structure makes this possible. Every journey is planned with foresight, monitored in real-time, and supported by live decision-making capability. Nothing is left to assumption.

Understanding the landscape isn’t just a principle, it’s a process. One that must be continuous, localised, and firmly embedded in the operational model. That’s what we’ve built at GardaWorld, and it’s why every journey we manage begins with intelligence, not chance.