If you’re sensing a little more hesitation at the departure gate these days, you’re not imagining it. The world hasn’t suddenly become untravelable, but it has, quite clearly, become more complicated. And travellers, seasoned or otherwise, are noticing.
A new survey from Global Rescue Companies lands with the subtlety of a dropped suitcase: virtually no international travellers feel safer today than they did a year ago. Not fewer. Not marginally less. Virtually none.
That’s not a wobble in confidence, it’s a full stop.
According to its Spring 2026 Traveller Sentiment and Safety Survey, less than one per cent of respondents said they were less or much less concerned about their personal safety when travelling abroad. Meanwhile, 56 per cent admitted they are more or much more concerned. The remaining 42 per cent? Holding steady, though hardly brimming with optimism.
Which leaves us with a rather neat conclusion: travellers may disagree on how bad things are getting, but they’re united in one belief, the world is not getting safer.
As Dan Richards puts it:
“Travellers are not seeing improvement in the global risk environment. What we’re observing is a split between those who feel conditions are worsening and those who believe risks remain persistently elevated, but almost no one sees the world as getting safer.”
There’s no spin there. Just a clear-eyed assessment, and frankly, it’s hard to argue.
The World, Writ Large and Slightly Unsettled
Look around. The headlines don’t exactly scream serenity.
From the long-running Russia–Ukraine conflict to the simmering instability across the Middle East, not to mention cartel violence that continues to shadow parts of Mexico, the global backdrop feels less like a postcard and more like a risk briefing.
And travellers, as ever, are paying attention.
What’s interesting isn’t just the rise in concern, it’s the way concern has settled in. It’s no longer reactive. It’s baked in. Like travel insurance or an aisle seat preference, unease has become part of the planning process.
Men, Women and the Subtle Psychology of Risk
The survey also reveals a familiar fault line.
Women are more likely to report heightened concern; 61 per cent say they are more or much more worried about their safety abroad, compared with 53 per cent of men. That’s not alarmism; that’s awareness shaped by experience.
Men, meanwhile, lean slightly more towards acceptance or perhaps resignation. Around 45 per cent say their level of concern hasn’t changed, versus 37 per cent of women. Not calmer, necessarily just accustomed.
Different reactions, same underlying reality.
Where You Live Matters But Not Much
Geography barely shifts the dial.
US travellers mirror the global average, with 56 per cent reporting increased concern and 41 per cent saying their outlook hasn’t changed. Outside the US, the figures soften slightly, 52 per cent more concerned, 45 per cent unchanged, but the direction remains the same.
No one, it seems, is booking with blind confidence.
Risk Is Now the Baseline
And here’s the crux of it.
We’ve moved beyond the era where risk spikes and fades. This is something else entirely. A steady hum of uncertainty that no longer surprises just lingers.
As Richards neatly sums up:
“Stability in perception is not the same as confidence. When nearly half of travellers say their concerns haven’t changed and virtually none say they’ve decreased, it tells you that elevated risk has become the baseline expectation.”
That line should probably be pinned to every travel boardroom wall.
Because this is no longer about fear, it’s about recalibration.
What It Means for the Industry
For the travel trade, this isn’t a crisis but a cue.
Travellers aren’t retreating en masse. They’re adapting. Asking more questions. Reading the fine print. Wanting reassurance that goes beyond glossy brochures and into real-world preparedness.
That puts the onus squarely on operators, destinations and suppliers to meet the moment with clarity, credibility and, above all, competence.
Risk isn’t going away. But confidence can still be built.
And that, as any good agent will tell you, is where the real work begins.
For further details, visit Global Rescue.
by Alison Jenkins – (c) 2026.
Read Time: 3 minutes.
About the Author.
Alison Jenkins has lived most of her working life in the slipstream of aviation, where timetables matter, and people matter more. In airline sales, she built a reputation the old-fashioned way: by knowing her clients, her routes, and never missing the human detail.
Quick with a smile, quicker with a solution, she made deals with warmth and kept her edge intact.
Trade shows, FAMILS, airport lounges and hotel lobbies became her second address. And somewhere along the way, notebook in hand, she began writing the journeys rather than selling them. Her reports grew lively, observant, full of the small truths only travellers notice.
That was the moment it dawned on her: she wasn’t simply travelling. She belonged in its stories.
