7 Tips for International Business Travel |

International travel for business is not like planning a vacation trip in the country. In addition to your flight itinerary, what to pack and scheduling meetings, a global road runner has also to consider proper etiquette, protocol, preparation and safety.

There are basic guidelines that you should always keep into consideration before you travel.? As I prepare for Nairobi Kenya here are a few tips I?d like to share.

To you global gurus, please share your tips with us as well.

International?Preparation

1. Register with the US State Department. It is important for the US Embassy to know you are in the country in case something jumps off.? The?State Department site provides country specific information and issues travel warnings on a country that may be dangerous or unstable as well they will issue travel alerts that apply to temporary problems.

2. Make copies of your passport. Leave one at home have a copy in another bag.? If you lose your passport or it gets stolen at least you?ll have the copy.? Carry the passport with you.? When the earthquake occurred in Japan, travelers couldn?t get back into their rooms to access pertinent documents.? The big lesson learned: When you go to dinner or a meeting, take your passport, don?t leave it back in your hotel room.

3. Carry contact information for your embassy with you at all times.

4. Keep a fully charged cell phone on you. I always have extra charged and ready batteries on hand.

5. Don?t do your ugly American routine. Fit in and be low key for personal safety.? We live in different times, be aware and pay attention.
6. Be open to different values, behaviors and ways of doing business. Lack of familiarity with the business practices and social customs of another country can weaken your position or prevent you from accomplishing your goals.

7. If you are traveling for more than a week or two,?consider buying a local phone. You can use that phone for making calls within the host country and it may be less expensive to dial the US. Some global business travelers use local SIM cards because it makes communications by mobile phones a lot easier. Make sure that you have texting capability. Texting is a lot more reliable than voice communication, it requires less bandwidth. In an emergency,? phone calls won?t go through but you?ll be able to send text messages to your loved ones.

We could go on ?but we promised you?7 Tips.? If you are traveling internationally for business, consider getting a Protocol Briefing to inform you of these issues and more.? Remember we are your personal?international?protocol and etiquette consultants and we?d be glad to contribute to your successful business trip.? Send us your international travel tips and enter our weekly raffle for a Protocol International gift.

Planning a business trip? Give Protocol International a call and let us give your business team some first class pointers on how to travel internationally.

Thanks for reading.? Let us know what you think. Click thru to the blog for more tips and past Protocol Blog posts and events.

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Source: http://4protocol.net/2011/09/7-tips-for-international-business-travel/

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