Global conflict is redrawing the travel map. Yet seasoned travellers are not locking their passports in the bottom drawer. Instead, they’re changing routes, dates, and destinations.
A new Global Rescue survey found that 29 per cent of its well-travelled respondents changed, delayed, or cancelled an overseas trip in 2026 because of safety fears. Even so, 71 per cent kept their original plans.
The message is clear. People still want to see the world. They are simply checking the fine print before they pack.
The latest Global Rescue Traveller Sentiment and Safety Survey found that global tensions, civil unrest and security risks had at least a moderate effect on destination choice for 72 per cent of respondents. For 42 per cent, the effect was “a great deal” or “a lot”. Just 8 per cent said security played no part in their choice.
That is a sharp warning for the travel trade. A glossy campaign may win attention, but trust closes the sale. Clear facts, fair booking terms and a sound crisis plan now matter at every stage.
Travellers pivot rather than retreat
Of all those surveyed, 9 per cent chose a new destination, 7 per cent delayed a trip and 6 per cent cancelled. Those figures total 22 per cent. That leaves seven points of the reported 29 per cent unexplained in the release. The main trend is plain, but readers should note the gap.
Dan Richards, chief executive of The Global Rescue Companies, said travellers were not giving up. “Travelers aren’t giving up on international travel, they’re making more informed decisions about where and when to go.”
Richards also sits on the US Travel and Tourism Advisory Board. He said conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine was shaping travel choices. So were civil unrest, terror fears and local security threats.
This is not a stampede for the exit. It is a calm move towards safer places, routes and dates. For travel advisers, that brings a bigger role. Clients need sound help before they leave and quick support when events put the itinerary through the shredder.
US and non-US travellers react in different ways
Concern was high in every market surveyed. Among US-based travellers, 72 per cent said global tensions and safety risks had at least a moderate effect on their choice. The share was 74 per cent for those based outside the US.
The key difference was what they did next. Almost 14 per cent of non-US respondents chose a new destination. Only 8 per cent of US respondents did the same. Overall, 28 per cent of US travellers and about 29 per cent of non-US travellers changed, delayed, or cancelled a trip.
That matters for tourism boards and suppliers. Demand has not simply vanished. Some of it has moved to places seen as safe, open and easy to reach.
No one wants a tourism ad that reads like a bunker guide. Still, calm facts now beat breezy claims. Destinations that explain risks and show how they will help guests may have a strong edge.
Official travel advice leads the field
Government travel advice was the top safety source for 49 per cent of respondents. News reports led for 21 per cent. A further 16 per cent turned first to travel security firms. Only 5 per cent said they did no safety research before a trip.
US-based travellers placed more trust in official advice than other respondents, by 52 per cent to 41 per cent. Those outside the US relied more on news reports, at 28 per cent compared with 19 per cent.
For Australians, the first stop should be Smartraveller. Its advice is free and kept up to date. Travellers can also sign up for alerts.
Smartraveller urges Australians to check every destination and transit point. It also says they should watch trusted news and check their travel insurance. Conflict can close airspace and borders at short notice. It can also disrupt flights, roads, phones and key services.
Insurance needs special care. Cover may be limited for a place at Level 3, “Reconsider your need to travel”. Most standard policies will not cover a Level 4, “Do not travel”, destination. Read the policy and speak with the insurer before paying, not after the departure board turns red.
A strong signal, but not a world census
Global Rescue says this survey wave covered experienced overseas travellers between 30 June and 6 July 2026. Its public notes do not state the sample size or claim that the group reflects all global travellers.
The results should therefore be read as the views of an active travel group. They are not a census of every person who crosses a border.
Even with that limit, the business lesson is hard to miss. People want to travel, but they also want good facts, room to change plans and real help when trouble starts.
The passport, happily, is not being pensioned off. It is just taking a Plan B and better insurance.
By: Michelle Warner – © 2026.
Read Time: 4 minutes.
Author Bio:
Michelle Warner has always carried stories the way others carry passports lightly, faithfully, and with purpose. She learned her craft in newsrooms, shaping sentences with care, before swapping deadlines for departures as a flight attendant with some of the world’s great airlines. Years aloft sharpened her eye for character and deepened her fondness for the small, dignified rituals of travel, the quiet kindness of strangers, the poetry of arrival, the patience learned between time zones.
Now grounded by choice, Michelle has come home to writing with the same calm authority she once brought to turbulent cabins. Her prose blends an editor’s discipline with a traveller’s wonder, tinged with humour and reverence for the golden age of travel. Each piece feels like a handwritten boarding pass, gracious, observant, and unmistakably alive.
