International travellers may be spending more time watching departure boards than they would like, but flight disruption has apparently failed to extinguish their appetite for seeing the world.
Instead, seasoned travellers are changing the way they plan.
More than one-third of experienced international travellers 36%, say their next overseas journey is most likely to centre on a secluded destination offering rest and relaxation, according to the latest Global Rescue Traveller Sentiment and Safety Survey.
It is a revealing result. After several years of crowded airports, irregular operations, geopolitical uncertainty and enough boarding-gate suspense to qualify as entertainment, travellers appear increasingly interested in holidays that deliver something refreshingly unfashionable: peace and quiet.
Another 16% say favourable exchange rates and exceptional destination value are most likely to influence where they travel next, while 12% are looking towards major concerts, sporting events or natural phenomena as the catalyst for their next international journey.
Flight disruption fails to stop the traveller
The determination to travel comes despite significant disruption across global aviation.
The survey found that 39% of respondents experienced at least one significant flight disruption in the previous 12 months, including a cancellation, missed connection, or delay exceeding three hours.
Independent aviation disruption data also illustrates the operational pressures airlines continue to face. ImPax reported that during July 2026 alone, 867,150 flights were disrupted from almost three million planned services worldwide, although its disruption measure includes minor delays as well as more serious interruptions.
Dan Richards, CEO of The Global Rescue Companies, said experienced travellers were adapting rather than retreating.
“Experienced international travelers haven’t stopped traveling despite the first half of 2026 recording the most severe and widespread disruption to international flights since the pandemic, instead they’ve become smarter about how they travel,” Richards said.
“They’re choosing destinations that help them recharge while recognizing that flexibility and preparation have become essential parts of every international itinerary.”
Richards is also a member of the US Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, the federal advisory body that provides the US Secretary of Commerce with industry advice on travel and tourism policy. His membership is confirmed by the US Department of Commerce.
Concern is real, but hardly paralysing
The survey paints an interesting picture of traveller psychology.
Some 35% of respondents said they were somewhat worried that delays or cancellations could affect their international travel this year, while another 29% were slightly worried.
Combined, that means 64% expressed a modest level of concern.
A further 17% described themselves as very or extremely worried, while 19% said they were not worried at all. Those percentages total 100% and correct an apparent arithmetic inconsistency in the supplied survey commentary. Published reporting of the findings separately lists the same 35%, 29%, 17% and 19% figures.
There are also notable geographical differences.
Among travellers based outside the United States, 26% said they were very or extremely concerned about flight disruption, compared with 16% of US respondents.
Americans were instead more inclined to describe themselves as somewhat worried, at 36% compared with 29% of non-US travellers. Meanwhile, 20% of Americans reported no concern at all, against 15% of respondents elsewhere.
“The most seasoned travelers understand that disruptions have become part of international travel,” Richards said.
“They build flexibility into their itineraries, avoid overly tight flight connections and prepare backup options before they leave home. Planning for disruptions is now just as important as planning the destination.”
Rest, value and experiences drive demand
Perhaps the strongest message for destinations, hotels, airlines and travel advisors is that travellers have not lost their enthusiasm.
They have become more selective.
Rest and relaxation lead the field among both US and international respondents, with secluded destinations favoured by 36% of US travellers and 38% of those outside the US.
Value also matters.
Some 18% of non-US travellers say favourable exchange rates could determine where they go, against 15% of Americans.
Then comes another increasingly interesting segment: the international micro-cation.
Sixteen per cent of non-US respondents say they would consider a shorter international escape, compared with 9% of US travellers. The same 16% of non-US respondents would consider travelling specifically for a major concert, sporting fixture or natural phenomenon, compared with 11% of Americans.
That presents considerable opportunities for destinations that can combine accessibility, value and distinctive experiences.
A traveller who crosses an ocean for three or four days to attend a major sporting event, music performance, eclipse or cultural festival may once have sounded extravagant. In 2026, it increasingly sounds like another recognised travel segment.
Flexibility is becoming part of the itinerary
For the travel trade, the implications are straightforward.
Reliable connections, sensible transit times, flexible bookings, easily understood rebooking arrangements and strong traveller communication are no longer merely operational niceties. They are becoming part of the product.
Travel advisors may also find more value in building itineraries with breathing room than in engineering connections worthy of an Olympic relay team.
Richards summed up the mood neatly.
“Experienced travelers understand that flight disruptions are an inconvenience, not necessarily a reason to stay home,” he said.
“They’ve learned to build flexibility into their itineraries and focus on the experiences that make international travel worthwhile. The destination still outweighs the disruption.”
And therein lies perhaps the most encouraging message for tourism.
The aircraft may be late. The connection may be untidy. The departure board may occasionally resemble a particularly cruel game of bingo.
But travellers still want to go.
Increasingly, they simply want somewhere peaceful waiting for them when they finally arrive.
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 travel’s golden age. Each piece feels like a handwritten boarding pass, gracious, observant, and unmistakably alive.
