NEWS

(Lebanon, N.H. – April 29, 2024) Hybrid and remote work models are motivating more travel, according to a survey of the world’s most experienced travelers. More than half (59%) of respondents revealed that a remote or hybrid workplace model encourages them, their friends and family to travel more, according to the 2024 Spring Global Rescue Traveler Sentiment and Safety Survey.

“It’s a boon for the travel industry, and one reason why travel growth continues to surpass pre-pandemic levels,” 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.

Nearly a third (30%) of survey respondents reported they travel for work. Of those, seven out of 10 (71%) are working remotely – either part- or full-time. A new, key finding is that since January 2024, business travelers’ expectations of work-related travel exceeding pre-pandemic levels have doubled, based on a comparison of results between the January and April surveys. In January, only 11% of surveyed individuals who travel for work predicted business travel to exceed pre-pandemic levels. Today, that percentage has nearly doubled to 21%.

The increase may be attributed to a nascent trend reported by the Oxford Economics survey revealing that employers are encouraging remote and hybrid workers to travel, largely for business-related reasons but also to satisfy employee travel desires.

“Call it FOMO Travel or YOLO Travel, individuals productively working remotely, part- or full-time, are renewing meaningful business and personal connections here and abroad. It’s fostering soul-enriching journeys,” Richards said. “Vacations used to be all about a complete escape from work, but now you can check emails from a hammock in the Maldives, take a break from a video conference to surf the incoming tide in Rincon, or finish the workday in Sweden and have plenty of time to view the Northern Lights,” Richards said.

Contact Bill McIntyre at bmcintyre@globalrescue.com or +1 (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 2,000 of its current and former members between April 16-20, 2024. 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.   

(Lebanon, N.H. – April 22, 2024) Travelers are prioritizing leisure trips more than ever, and the overwhelming majority of them consider travel experiences to be more important than material possessions, according to a survey of the world’s most experienced travelers.

“People are changing their spending habits, taking advantage of remote work models, and beefing up their security precautions in an effort to find ways to travel more often, and for longer durations,” 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.

More than a third of travelers (39%) responding to the 2024 Spring Global Rescue Traveler Sentiment and Safety Survey said travel is a higher priority today than it was pre-pandemic. Three-out-of-four respondents (75%) said travel experiences are more important than material possessions.

More than 70% of respondents said they are decreasing discretionary spending to enable more travel. Respondents are delaying purchases of things like an additional car, a second home, tickets for sporting events, concerts or shows, jewelry, and expensive restaurants. Some are holding off on starting a family or getting a pet to save for travel, according to the survey results.

“New car sales have dipped, second home ownership has plummeted, jewelry purchases are down and travel continues to increase beyond pre-pandemic levels. People are trading off material possessions for passport entry stamps and the memories that come with traveling boldly,” Richards said.

More than half of traveling respondents (51%) plan on more trips in 2024, 38% plan longer trips and an equal percentage (38%) plan to spend more money compared to pre-pandemic behavior, according to survey results.

Travelers expect the travel surge to continue. Nearly half (48%) of respondents believe travel will continue to grow at higher levels. More than a third (35%) said travel growth will level off but remain above pre-pandemic levels. Only a fifth (20%) predicted travel would level off and then dip below pre-pandemic levels.

Contact Bill McIntyre at bmcintyre@globalrescue.com or +1 (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 1,900 of its current and former members between April 16-20, 2024. 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.   

(Lebanon, N.H. – April 11, 2024) – Global Rescue, the world's leading provider of medical, security, evacuation and travel risk management services, has deployed a team of specialists to Nepal to perform rescue operations during the Mount Everest 2024 spring climbing season where a record number of rescues are expected.

Record-breaking crowds are expected to converge on the Himalayan region. "About 600 climber permits have been issued for Mount Everest, a 30% increase over last year's record of 463 permits distributed," said Dan Stretch, a Global Rescue operations manager coordinating rescue activities for Nepal during the Mount Everest climbing season. Stretch has performed more than 500 evacuations and crisis response operations in the Himalayas.

Adding to the potentially crowded conditions on Mount Everest will be an additional 100 mountaineers attempting to summit from the Tibetan side. "For the first time in several years, Chinese authorities have opened up the Tibet side to 100 climbers. When you consider that each climber generally comes with support personnel and climbing sherpas there will likely be close to 2,000 people climbing Mount Everest this season," Stretch said.

Crowded conditions can lead to an increase in rescue operations. "Overcrowding at high altitudes means more mountaineers exposed for prolonged periods in the death zone, and that increases the likelihood of climbers experiencing altitude sickness, frostbite and exhaustion," Stretch said.

"During the two-month 2024 Mount Everest spring climbing season, there will usually be several rescue operations performed each day, keeping the deployment team busy from before dawn until nearly midnight. The busiest time is the two-week Mount Everest summit window when the medical and rescue operations team performs up to 25 rescues a day," Stretch said.

Recovering climbers and trekkers is much more than a high-altitude mountain chopper rescue. Performing a rescue includes helicopter and ambulance transports, hospital admissions and looking after individuals admitted to a hospital for care. "The Global Rescue deployment team members are located in multiple areas to support individuals throughout their rescue, transport, recovery and safe return home," Stretch said.

Airborne helicopter rescues will be a challenge this year, according to Stretch. "Due to several crashes in the past few years, the Nepalese civil aviation authorities are limiting pilots' daily flying hours. It's an important factor. Climbers should train and prepare to rely on themselves in the event helicopter rescues are limited," Stretch advised.

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

About Global Rescue

Global Rescue is 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.

(Lebanon, N.H. – March 19, 2024) The Global Rescue Intelligence Delivery system (GRID 2.0) that places critical travel intelligence in the hands of leisure and business travelers was named to Fast Company’s prestigious list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2024.

“Our list of the Most Innovative Companies is both a comprehensive look at the innovation economy and a snapshot of the business trends that defined the year,” said Fast Company editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan.

The GRID 2.0 system distributes targeted notifications and alerts to individuals who could be impacted by events including civil unrest, disease-related developments, safety issues, transportation disruptions, communications blackouts, and natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and volcanic activity.

“It is the world’s only integrated medical and security mobile app for travel risk, asset tracking, intelligence delivery and crisis response management. Last year more than a million targeted event alerts were distributed to individuals who could be affected by more than 10,000 global events reported,” said Dan Richards, CEO of The Global Rescue Companies, the world’s leading provider of medical, security, evacuation and travel risk management services. 

As leisure and business travel increase globally, so do the challenges to balance safety in the face of travel disruptions from extreme weather, flooding threats and transportation delays as well as threats of international violent conflicts, terrorism and civil unrest. Most travelers lack immediate access to travel intelligence information or communication capabilities that may be lifesaving in the event of a medical or security emergency.

“Global Rescue's GRID 2.0 changes that. In an emergency, the GRID 2.0 app puts its users in immediate contact with the medical teams and military special operations veterans who staff Global Rescue's Global Operations Centers,” said Harding Bush, associate director for Global Rescue security operations.

The GRID 2.0 system is comprised of two parts to reduce traveler risk. The Individual Traveler Mobile App and the Desktop Administrator Control Center work together to help individuals, organizations, companies and universities protect, track and communicate with remote travelers, employees and students.   

Travelers using the GRID 2.0 Individual Traveler Mobile App can research medical and security risks by destination, obtain automatic Destination Reports, receive active security alerts including analysis and advice, connect for GPS "check-ins" with real-time location tracking, and stay in touch with in-app communications both internally and with Global Rescue.  

Administrators managing the GRID 2.0 Desktop Administrator Control Center receive comprehensive situational awareness of global risks 24/7/365, monitor real-time global threats and analysis with Event Alerts, audit a dynamic global risk map to identify regions of increased risk, manage communications using the in-app messaging that allows direct contact with individual or group GRID 2.0 Mobile App users. 

Contact Bill McIntyre at bmcintyre@globalrescue.com or +1 (202) 560-1195 (phone/text) for more information.  

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.

About Fast Company

Fast Company is the only media brand fully dedicated to the vital intersection of business, innovation, and design, engaging the most influential leaders, companies, and thinkers on the future of business. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with our sister publication Inc., and can be found online at www.fastcompany.com.