(Lebanon, N.H. – November 6, 2023) Despite war and violent conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, close to half of the survey respondents (45%) said they would travel both internationally and domestically for the winter holidays between November 2023 and the end of January 2024, according to the Global Rescue Fall Traveler Sentiment and Safety Survey. Nearly a third (29%) said they would travel domestically only, 11% would travel internationally only and 16% had no travel plans during that time.

“We’re seeing an understandable increase in traveler concern worldwide, but it is the most pronounced in the Middle East,” said Dan Richards, CEO of The Global Rescue Companies, the world’s leading provider of medical, security, evacuation and travel risk management services, and a member of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board at the U.S. Department of Commerce. “Nevertheless, international trip takers continue to gain comfort with wartime travel. We’ve seen this traveler behavior since the war in Ukraine and we’re seeing it today following the attack on Israel,” he said.

Travel uncertainty generally increases traveler demand for emergency medical and security services. “We’ve seen a 33% increase in traveler purchases of security services since the armed conflict between Israel and Palestinian terrorist groups started,” Richards said.

While COVID fears have plummeted, travelers are keeping up with vaccinations recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, according to the survey.

More than half (58%) of the world’s most experienced travelers surveyed have already received an updated COVID-19 vaccination or plan to do so. Less than a third (29%) haven’t and do not plan to while 14% are uncertain whether they will or not. News reports of the Nipah virus outbreak in India did not prompt any survey respondents to delay, cancel or postpone a trip to the region or anywhere else.

To speed up travel hub security lines, the U.S. TSA introduced the Credential Authentication Technology (CAT). Unfortunately, fewer than a tenth (9%) have used the system. The majority of respondents (91%) either have not used TSA’s CAT or do not know if they have used it. Of those who used the system, about half (49%) said it sped up the security clearance process, but the balance did not notice a difference or reported it took as long as or longer than the previous system.

Experts expect airport check-in kiosks to increase. Survey respondents appreciate the timesaving attributes of the kiosks, but others prefer personal interaction. More than half (53%) of respondents use travel hub check-in kiosks, but 47% do not. Most (61%) use the kiosks because they speed up the check-in process but 18% of them would prefer to check in with a live agent. An equal percentage (18%) reported that live agents are often unavailable and must use the check-in kiosks.

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Contact Bill McIntyre at bmcintyre@globalrescue.com or 202.560.1195 (phone/text) for more information.

About the Global Rescue Traveler Sentiment and Safety Survey

Global Rescue, the leading travel risk and crisis response provider, surveyed more than 2,300 of its current and former members from October 5-12, 2023. The respondents revealed a variety of behaviors, attitudes and preferences regarding current and future travel.

About Global Rescue

The Global Rescue Companies are the world’s leading provider of medical, security, evacuation and travel risk management services to enterprises, governments and individuals. Founded in 2004, Global Rescue has exclusive relationships with the Johns Hopkins Emergency Medicine Division of Special Operations and Elite Medical Group. Global Rescue provides best-in-class services that identify, monitor and respond to client medical and security crises. Global Rescue has provided medical and security support to its clients, including Fortune 500 companies, governments and academic institutions, during every globally significant crisis of the last two decades. For more information, visit www.globalrescue.com.