International SOS set for rapid growth in PH

A 63-percent increase in workforce is only the beginning of the expansion of global medical and travel security risk services firm International SOS here in the Philippines, which sees the country’s economic boom as one of the key drivers of its own growth.

“We will continue to expand rapidly in at least the next two years,” says Laurent Sabourin, International SOS group managing director. “[It’s because] local companies are going increasingly global, and multinational companies are investing more in the Philippines. So we are an enabler of both… as the number of mobile workers is increasing, and we come as a very pragmatic and practical response by  employers to their duty of care obligation.”

Established in the early 1980s, International SOS came to the Philippines in 1996.

The company specializes in providing medical protection, security and emergency services, as well as repatriation for people who work outside their home base, such as business executives, diplomats, migrant workers, seafarers, and even salespeople.

“Broadly they are called mobile workers,” says Sabourin. “They are the people we look after; that’s the global population we specialize in.”

The company has 26 assistance centers—one of which is here in the Philippines—that run 24/7 every day, manned largely by medical professionals which their members can call for immediate support.

International SOS has also made it its mission to educate companies about duty of care, or their core executive responsibility to create and implement “important competencies for protecting the health, safety, security and legal status of international or remote assignees and travelers.” Over the last 22 years that International SOS has been operating in the country, awareness about duty of care has improved among local companies, particularly the large conglomerates, says Sabourin.

Matthew Squires, who has been working in the Philippines for International SOS for the past 25 years and is now regional general manager for Asia-Pacific of the company’s brand enhancement business Aspire Lifestyles, also commends the local medical talent.

“The Philippines has very good doctors, and you have hospitals that are up to international standards. The country is very well-covered,” Squires says.

With its recent increase in workforce, International SOS now has a total of 202 professionals working across their three businesses here in the Philippines: International SOS, International SOS Assistance Center, and the white label Aspire Lifestyles. A global concierge service, Aspire was established only five years ago  because existing International SOS clients, taking advantage of the companies’ logistical capabilities, would ask assistance for certain brand enhancement and customer-oriented services, says Squires.

Sabourin describes Aspire’s service as one that provides that “wow factor” by more than just giving information. Aspire, he says, creates unique experiences for their clients’ customers.

“We call these ‘little miracles,’” Sabourin says.

“An example of our service: flower delivery. Very simple, but flower delivery on a plane just before takeoff to a particular seat number—that’s more [special],” says Squires. “Again, this is where our expertise from International SOS comes in.”

Aspire’s Philippine office has 50 concierge professionals; globally they have 1,500, says Sabourin. “[The concierge is]  the guy at the entrance of the hotel who knows everything, and we have industrialized that and globalized the profession.”

Ultimately, it is this global lifestyle—coupled with a thriving business environment—that will continue to push the business of International SOS, as well as Aspire Lifestyles’, forward here in the Philippines.

“International SOS, Aspire Lifestyles, and then our Assistance Center—the good news is that the three of them will continue to grow in the Philippines. The Filipino is increasingly becoming part of the global economy,” Sabourin says.