Travelers' Fears Are Falling

Image: Young woman heading toward her departure gate at the airport. (photo via iStock/Getty Images E+/Pyrosky)
Image: Young woman heading toward her departure gate at the airport. (photo via iStock/Getty Images E+/Pyrosky)
Lacey Pfalz
by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 8:00 PM ET, Wed August 2, 2023

Experienced travelers have less fears this year as they stretch their wings and travel farther than they have in the past few years, according to the Global Rescue Traveler Sentiment and Safety Survey, which surveyed 2,300 current and former Global Rescue members in July. 

Concerns about traveling to a country with civil unrest or a potential for terrorism increased from 14 percent to 7 percent from January 2023, while worry about COVID-19 has decreased dramatically from 33 percent in August 2022 to 4 percent in July 2023. 

So what are experienced travelers really worried about this summer? It seems the answer is still related to health and personal safety: 48 percent worry most about getting injured or having an accident while traveling. The second highest response, at 13 percent, was unexpected trip cancellations. 

Experienced travelers desire to head out to countries that are more adventurous than in previous years. 

Among the twenty countries currently listed with a Level 3 travel advisory by the U.S. State Department, which encourages travelers to reconsider traveling to the listed country, Egypt, Colombia, China and Hong Kong were the most popular for these travelers to want to visit. 

“The desire and willingness to travel to less touristy destinations are how many travelers will avoid the crowds associated with the post-pandemic travel rebound,” said Dan Richards, CEO of The Global Rescue Companies. “Before COVID, people were content with traditional tourist destinations. But now, places that are less accessible and a little more risky are gaining interest."


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Lacey Pfalz

Lacey Pfalz

Associate Editor

Lacey Pfalz is Associate Editor at TravelPulse. She's a passionate advocate of responsible travel and believes the best travel experiences happen outside of a planned itinerary. Lacey currently lives in rural Wisconsin. She can be reached at [email protected].

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