The bill is increased by the need to send advanced reconnaissance parties to all destinations on a businessman's travel itinerary. Hotels and conference centres have to be checked for bombs, bugs and escape routes. And roads have to be monitored for potential ambush sites. Equipment has to be ordered and paid for, particularly armoured cars, which are used to chauffeur the client. They will invariably be driven by bodyguards trained in evasion driving.
Protection also has to be organised for executives' families.
It is the wife or the children who are targeted. Partly for these reasons, and partly because more women are holding senior positions, female bodyguards are increasingly in demand. Perceived risk is a powerful factor in the minds of foreign executives visiting the region. I was speaking with one American who would not get off the plane, having landed in Dubai, without close personal protection. The issue of firearms is a hotly debated topic within security circles.