According to the Global Rescue Winter Traveler Sentiment and Safety Survey, travellers are planning three or more trips in 2024, with the vast majority (93%) including international destinations. Forty-one percent of respondents are planning three or more trips abroad.
The survey results are a clear indicator – consistent with expert predictions and travel volumes reported by TSA – that the travel rebound will continue through 2024.
According to the survey, Mexico, Canada, Europe, and Africa are travellers’ four leading international destinations. However, a significant number of survey respondents (66%) plan to include new international destinations to visit this year. The top 10 most frequently mentioned are Spain, Africa, Japan, Argentina, Italy, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Greenland and Norway.
Many travellers reported planning longer, more adventurous trips. Nearly a quarter (23%) of respondents said that since the pandemic ended, they plan to stay longer on at least one of their international trips in 2024. One in five respondents (21%) plan more adventurous, immersive trips in 2024 than past trips.
Travelers’ appetite for exploring the world is increasing. Today’s travellers are travelling boldly and increasingly seeking out new destinations that are unspoiled, less popular, more remote, and sometimes a little riskier. Adventure travel, luxury travel, and other activity-focused segments will continue to see strong growth. Many places are at capacity or are oversubscribed and have waiting lists.
Most respondents (83%) said they would travel with friends or family, but not for all their trips. Nearly a third (30%) said some of their trips would be solo, 19% said at least one would be alone with strangers, and 8% said one or more trips would be travel with business colleagues.
In parallel with the ongoing travel rebound, we’re seeing an understandable increase in traveller safety concerns worldwide. Civil unrest and terrorism are travellers’ leading fears, surpassing accidents or injuries and marking a dramatic attitudinal shift since last year.
More than a third of travellers (36%) reported civil unrest and terrorism as the most significant concerns during global trips, a threefold 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 the travellers (50%) reported suffering an injury or getting sick as their biggest concern.
Nevertheless, international trip-takers continue to travel anyway despite the rising threats of civil unrest, war and terrorism. Travellers are beefing up their trip protection with a 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.
Traveller uncertainty generally increases traveller demand for emergency medical and security services. Last year, traveller purchases of security and extraction services increased by 36%, and we expect that will continue in 2024. We’ve seen this traveller behaviour since the war in Ukraine, and we’re seeing it continue following the attacks on Israel.
Travellers are seeking more security, and the travel industry is responding. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is advancing new security screening programs, like the Screening at Speed Program, which enables the scanning of walking passengers, acquiring data through most garments, and reliably detecting a wider range of prohibited items regardless of concealment.
Hotels use keyless room entry, elevator access controls, and surveillance cameras to increase guest safety, and Airbnb users must verify their identity before making a reservation. Travellers are turning to door wedges, portable door locks, and lock lockers – devices designed to prevent anyone from unlocking their deadbolt – for added protection in hotel rooms.
Travellers are also seeking peace of mind by using integrated medical and security apps, like Global Rescue’s GRID 2.0, to receive notifications and alerts about civil unrest, disease-related developments, safety issues, transportation disruptions, communications blackouts, and natural disasters, including floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanic activity.
Business and leisure travellers want critical medical, security, and other essential travel-related intelligence delivered in real-time and available at their fingertips. Last year, we reported over 10,000 global events and distributed nearly a million event alerts.
As the travel rebound continues, so will the demand for more traveller protection.
Written by: Dan Richards
Dan Richards is CEO of The Global Rescue Companies, the world’s leading medical, security, evacuation and travel risk management services provider, and a member of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board at the U.S. Department of Commerce.
