(Lebanon, N.H. – February 21, 2024) Civil unrest and terrorism are travelers’ leading fears, surpassing accidents or injuries and marking a dramatic attitudinal shift since spring 2023, according to the world’s most experienced travelers responding to the Winter 2024 Global Rescue Traveler Sentiment and Safety Survey.

More than a third of travelers (36%) reported civil unrest and terrorism are the biggest concerns during global trips, reflecting a three-fold increase compared to spring 2023. A quarter of respondents (25%) said having an accident or illness during a trip was their greatest fear, a significant decrease from spring 2023 when half of travelers (50%) reported suffering an injury or getting sick was their biggest concern.

“We’re seeing an understandable increase in traveler concern worldwide. Nevertheless, international trip takers continue to travel anyway despite the rising threats of civil unrest, war, and terrorism,” said Dan Richards, CEO of The Global Rescue Companies, the world’s leading provider of medical, security, evacuation and travel risk management services, and a member of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board at the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Travelers are beefing up their trip protection with security advisory and extraction protection. A third of respondents (34%) said the war in Ukraine, the Hamas attacks on Israel or other violent conflicts make it more likely they will add security extraction and advisory protection to their travel protection package.

“Traveler uncertainty generally increases traveler demand for emergency medical and security services,” Richards said. “Last year, traveler purchases of security and extraction services increased by 36%, and we expect that will continue in 2024. We’ve seen this traveler behavior since the war in Ukraine, and we’re seeing it continue following the attacks on Israel.”

While civil unrest, terrorism, accidents and illnesses top the list of traveler fears, the survey revealed other concerns. Trip cancellation, robbery or theft garnered between 7-9% of responses. Testing positive for COVID (or its variants) and natural disasters each collected 5% of responses. Nuclear disasters collected <1% of responses.

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Contact Bill McIntyre at bmcintyre@globalrescue.com or +1 (202) 560-1195 (phone/text) for more information.

About the Global Rescue Traveler Sentiment and Safety Survey 

Global Rescue, the leading travel risk and crisis response provider, surveyed more than 1,500 of its current and former members between January 25-30, 2024. The respondents revealed a variety of behaviors, attitudes and preferences regarding current and future travel.

About Global Rescue  

The Global Rescue Companies are the world’s leading provider of medical, security, evacuation and travel risk management services to enterprises, governments and individuals. Founded in 2004, Global Rescue has exclusive relationships with the Johns Hopkins Emergency Medicine Division of Special Operations and Elite Medical Group. Global Rescue provides best-in-class services that identify, monitor and respond to client medical and security crises. Global Rescue has provided medical and security support to its clients, including Fortune 500 companies, governments and academic institutions, during every globally significant crisis of the last two decades. For more information, visit www.globalrescue.com.