Global travel risk company GOPASS Global will expand its focus beyond COVID-related risks to incorporate a full risk assessment model, including social, environmental and geo-political risks.
“Travel risk is constantly evolving and so we need to evolve too,” says GOPASS CEO Mark Radford. “The terrifying war in Ukraine and the far-reaching impact of sanctions, including airspace rights, are just another reminder of the volatility facing travellers in a globally-connected world.”
Radford explained that during recent successful Series A funding discussions, investors expressed their enthusiasm for the planned expansion, viewing it as a logical progression for the dynamic company lauded by Microsoft for its innovation and insightful use of AI.
Laying the foundation for full risk
“Our work with COVID-related risk is far from done,” says Radford. “The grim reality is that mutations of the virus, such as the BA.2 sub-variant now spreading in South Africa, will be with us for many years to come. But we also recognise that we have done a lot of the groundwork to build a more complete travel risk solution which fits perfectly with our mantra to help people everywhere to travel more safely.”
Within just a year of operation, GOPASS has signed up major travel players in Europe, the US and APAC, partnered with global tech giants Microsoft and Sabre and delivered thousands of COVID-related risk assessment reports to business and leisure travellers across the world.
Rapid growth driven by AI
The key to GOPASS’s rapid growth has been its ability to use AI to interrogate 35 sources of global risk data in near real-time and share the most relevant information via simple, user-friendly reports or an interactive bio-risk map. Users can quickly learn about changes in border control rules, vaccination rates, testing and quarantine requirements and receive a risk score for their planned flight.
Radford says the risk score is particularly helpful for corporate travel managers and businesses wanting to be compliant with ISO 31030 travel risk management guideline introduced last year.
He says GOPASS plans to develop and rollout the broader offering, which will examine factors such as ongoing conflicts, militarization and social cohesion, before year-end. “We’ll share more details of the new model closer to launch. In the interim, we are continuing to make improvements to our COVID-risk assessments and will release a new leisure travel-focused solution within the coming weeks.”
Battle with COVID far from over
Radford noted that with less than two-thirds of the world’s population having received a first dose of vaccine, it was likely that more variants would emerge and the battle with COVID was far from over. “Having a grasp of risk data such as vaccination and hospitalization rates and the state of health care in your intended destination is more important than ever,” he says.
Radford says GOPASS is anticipating continued strong growth with corporates, travel agency partners and travellers using its enhanced COVID risk management solutions. “And we expect a really positive response to our full risk solution later this year.”
