by Guest Author
Last updated: 7:00 AM ET, Sat March 16, 2024
Travelers are planning three
or more trips in 2024, with the vast majority (93 percent) including
international destinations, according to the Global
Rescue Winter Traveler Sentiment and Safety Survey. 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 the four leading international
destinations for travelers. However, a significant number of survey respondents
(66 percent) 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 travelers reported planning longer, more adventurous trips.
Nearly a quarter (23 percent) 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 percent) are planning more adventurous,
immersive trips in 2024 than past journeys.
Travelers' appetite for exploring the world is increasing. Today's
travelers are traveling 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 over-subscribed and have
waiting lists.
Most respondents (83 percent)
said they would travel with friends or family, but only for some of their
trips. Nearly a third (30 percent) said some of their trips would be solo, 19
percent said at least one would be on their own with a group of strangers, and
eight percent 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 traveler safety concerns worldwide. Civil unrest and
terrorism are travelers' leading fears, surpassing accidents or injuries and
marking a dramatic attitudinal shift since last year.
More than a third of travelers (36 percent) reported civil
unrest and terrorism as the most significant concerns during global trips,
reflecting a three-fold increase compared to spring 2023. A quarter of
respondents (25 percent) said having an accident or illness during a trip was
their greatest fear, a significant decrease from spring 2023 when half of
travelers (50 percent) reported suffering an injury or getting sick was their
biggest concern.
Nevertheless, international trip-takers continue to travel anyway
despite the rising threats of civil unrest, war and terrorism. Travelers are
beefing up their trip protection with security advisory and extraction
protection. A third of respondents (34 percent) 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. Last year, traveler purchases of
security and extraction services increased by 36 percent, 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.
Travelers 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. Travelers 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.
Travelers 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 travelers 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
traveler protections.
Dan Richards is 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.
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