Travelers postpone Eastern Europe and European trips; add security services to travel protection

Lebanon, N.H. – April 25, 2022 – Most international trip takers (89%) are not changing travel plans due to the war in Ukraine. But travelers planning to visit Europe or Eastern European countries are postponing or canceling their excursions, according to the world’s most experienced travelers taking the Global Rescue Spring 2022 Traveler Safety and Sentiment Survey.

Forty-two percent of travelers say the war in Ukraine caused them to cancel or postpone a trip to Russia, Ukraine or any other country in Eastern Europe. Nearly the same percentage (36%) say the war caused them to cancel or postpone a trip to Europe.

According to the survey, 43% of travelers say the war in Ukraine makes them more or much more likely to obtain travel security services that provide evacuation and advisory when you are in danger due to things like insurgent attacks, civil unrest and unpredictable natural disasters.

“War makes adjacent regions unpredictable and potentially more dangerous and understandably drives travelers to global destinations with no threat of conflict. These conditions also increase demand for extra travel protection services,” said Dan Richards, CEO of Global Rescue, 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.

While many travelers are delaying trips due to the war, an equal number are not. More than a third (37%) of respondents say they did not cancel or postpone a trip to Europe, according to the survey.

“Traveler concerns are split about going abroad. Nearly half (43%) of travelers say they are somewhat concerned about international travel but 28% are not concerned at all while the same percentage are much more concerned,” Richards said.

Once travelers are abroad, military conflict is among the least of their concerns. Thirty-nine percent say having an accident, sustaining an injury, or getting sick (but not with COVID) is the biggest non-COVID fear about international travel followed by trip cancellation (22%), civil unrest and terrorism (16%), war (8%), being robbed (7%), natural disaster (3%) and identity theft (2%).

“People are born with a natural desire to travel and explore. Despite the pandemic, the war, rising fuel costs, government and airline policies and other barriers to travel, people are going to travel in record numbers this year,” Richards said referring to the World Travel & Tourism Council projections that travel will surpass pre-pandemic levels.

About the Global Rescue Traveler Sentiment and Safety Survey

Global Rescue, the leading travel risk and crisis response provider, conducted a survey of more than 1,200 of its current and former members between April 5 and 9, 2022. The respondents exposed a significant range in travel confidence and international travel activity as well as preferences for international travel policies.

Contact Bill McIntyre at bmcintyre@globalrescue.com or 202.560.1195 (phone/text) for more information.

About Global Rescue

Global Rescue is 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.