How to avoid hassles while at your overseas business destination
On your next overseas business trip, the less affected you are by problems that could upset your schedule, health, accommodation, or performance, the better. Through experience, seasoned travellers learn to avoid or eliminate the hassles of living in another country for a short time. Others never quite manage to cope. For newcomers, an overseas trip can even be frightening. To ‘travel smart’ in a foreign land on business, the following advice may be useful...
1. Do your homework.
Before embarking, familiarise yourself with the customs, negotiating styles, and any potential pitfalls of doing business in your targeted country. The serious business person will consult trade journals, international business dailies, websites, the international business department at the local university, the bank, the government’s trade department, and any colleagues who have visited the country previously. Know, in particular:
- the purpose of your visit and your planned itinerary
- the corporate culture and how meetings and transactions are conducted
- how deals are done
- the culture of doing business - e.g. gift-giving, introductions and other formalities, and the social component of business, if any
- the importance or otherwise of punctuality
- how humour is received, if at all
- cultural nuances - e.g. in Japan, the place of bowing, and the fact that ‘yes’ means ‘I understand’, not necessarily ‘I agree with you’.
2. Attend to personal safety.
At most airports, theft is prevalent. Robbery and violence can occur even in the finest hotels. Be alert and take such precautions as these:
- Keep the door of your hotel room double-locked.
- Know how to escape your hotel room in case of fire.
- Request a room near the lift to avoid being followed while walking down long corridors.
- If the hotel clerk announces your room number so loudly that others can hear, ask for a different one.
- Do not leave valuables unattended in your hotel room.
- Ask how safe it is to walk the streets at night.
- Keep separate copies of valuable documents - e.g. credit card details, ID, insurance, and airline tickets.
- Keep a low profile and remain alert in countries with a high personal security risk. Obtain guidance on safety precautions before you leave.
3. Watch what you eat and drink.
Take care when eating and drinking in overseas countries. Although this precaution may not be necessary in the larger industrialised countries, you can easily become ill in others.
Tap water is often safe in many developing countries, but if in doubt drink bottled water - making sure that you are the one to break the seal. Be wary of fruit and vegetables washed in local water, and be careful when brushing your teeth.
Food-related sickness results from food that has been left in the open, poor hygiene in food-preparation areas, contaminated food (seafood from polluted waters, undercooked meat, or fruit with broken skin), and poor judgement when sampling exotic fare.
