A recent survey of more than 1,400 current and former members, carried out by Global Rescue Winter last January, has revealed the top concerns among travellers for 2026.
In particular, international tourists are most concerned about personal health emergencies and flight disruptions when travelling.
- Overall, 31% of the world’s most experienced travellers say that falling ill or sustaining an injury whilst abroad is their biggest concern in 2026.
- Political unrest or terrorism ranks second at 21%, followed by losing a passport, credit cards or wallet at 12%, and war, kidnapping and natural disasters at 6%.
- Men and women share similar levels of concern about the risk of illness or injury, but men are twice as likely to worry about kidnapping and involuntary detention compared to women (6% vs. 3%), whilst women are more concerned about political unrest and terrorism (27% vs. 20%) and war (8% vs. 4%).
Geography influences travellers’ anxiety
- Non-US survey respondents are significantly more concerned about political unrest or terrorism than their American counterparts (27% vs. 21%), with non-US respondents more likely to cite war as their top concern (8% vs. 4%).
- When asked what is most likely to ruin a trip, travellers overwhelmingly cited flight cancellations at 35%.
- Bad weather comes second at 15%, followed by poor planning or a lack of research (13%) and overly ambitious itineraries (12%).
- The findings show that operational and design failures have a more detrimental effect on traveller satisfaction than interpersonal or cultural challenges, such as feelings of isolation, cultural misunderstandings and breakdowns in communication.
- Men are more likely than women to cite poor planning as a problem (13% vs. 9%) and are slightly more concerned than women about ruining a trip due to overly ambitious itineraries (13% vs. 10%).
Source: tourismtoday.gr