How important is it to feel safe on vacation?
Feeling safe is one of the most important factors when travelers are booking a trip. And according to Dan Richards, CEO of The Global Rescue Companies, Canada ranks as the safest destination in its survey.
He said, “Feeling safe is one of the most powerful ways travelers remember a destination. Canada’s consistency across groups suggests that traveler confidence is shaped by the full experience, how predictable the environment feels, how people are treated and whether they believe help will be available if something goes wrong.”
Canada led the safest-destination ranking overall, followed by New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Japan and Switzerland. On the least-safe side, Mexico ranked first by a wide margin, followed by South Africa, France, Brazil and Egypt.
Though US and non-US travelers both placed Canada in the number-one spot for safety, US respondents selected New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Japan and Argentina as their favorites. On the other hand, non-US respondents chose Singapore second, followed by Japan, Switzerland and Norway.
As a safe destination, Singapore was especially pronounced as non-US respondents were nearly six times as likely as US respondents to select it as the country where they felt safest. US respondents, however, were nearly twice as likely as non-US respondents to select New Zealand.
Least-safe destination rankings showed a different divide. US respondents placed Mexico first, followed by South Africa, France, Russia and Egypt.
Among non-US respondents, South Africa ranked first, Brazil second and France, Kenya and Mexico tied for third. US respondents were nearly four times as likely as non-US respondents to name Mexico as the place where they felt least safe.
Regarding gender differences, men ranked Canada as the country where they felt safest, followed by New Zealand, Japan and the United Kingdom, with Argentina and Switzerland tied next.
Women ranked New Zealand first, followed by Canada and the United Kingdom, with Ireland, Italy and Japan following in a tie. Women were almost 39% more likely than men to select New Zealand as a safe destination, while men were about 30% more likely than women to choose Canada.
Though Mexico topped the least-safe ranking for both men and women, the result intensity differed sharply: men were more than twice as likely as women to select Mexico.
Men next ranked South Africa, France, Brazil and Russia. Women placed Egypt second, while France, Israel and South Africa tied for third. Women were over four times as likely as men to name Israel as the place where they felt least safe.
“Safety perceptions are personal, and they are shaped by where travelers go, what they encounter and how prepared they are when conditions change,” Richards added. “A positive past experience is valuable, but it should never replace current destination intelligence, contingency planning and access to help when traveling internationally.”
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