Where are the safest places to travel in 2023? It depends on how you define ‘safe’

Since getting hit by Covid-19 getting caught in a blizzard, Traveling can be a risky business these days.

But how risky often depends on the destination – and how you define the risks.

In this list, Asia and Europe dominated the rankings of the “safest” cities, which relied on reported crime rates on the crowdsourced global database Numbeo.

According to the report, Taipei in Taiwan scored the highest, while Buenos Aires, Argentina ranked the lowest (score: 36.7).

But Euromonitor International’s top five places for “health and safety”Top 100 City Destinations Index 2022” are different.

That ranking, published in December, analyzed “Political stability and social security”, including the impact of COVID-19 (such as total cases, deaths and vaccination rates) as well as road injury accidents, government corruption and terrorism data.

Here, cities in the Middle East and Asia topped the list.

1. Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
2. Dubai, United Arab Emirates
3. Doha, Qatar
4. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
5. Singapore, Singapore

“The Middle East … takes the first four places, while Singapore ranks first in terms of the political stability category in 2019-2022,” said Vitalij Vladykin, senior research manager at Euromonitor International.

“Health and safety” is one of six factors used by Euromonitor International to compile its annual City Destinations Index.

its travel risk map 2023 Shows that most of North America and Western Europe — as well as places like Turkey, Israel, Japan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates — have “low” medical risks.

The map shows Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea and parts of Africa with “very high” medical risks, which International SOS describes as “almost non-existent or severely overstretched” health care systems. defines.

According to the report, there is “significant variation” in medical risks in countries colored purple, which could mean discrepancies in the level of care between cities and rural areas.

Dr. Irene Lai, Medical Director at International SOS, said that this map does not reflect the current outbreak of COVID-19 in China. He said that rather than showing specific disease outbreaks, the map focuses on “background” medical conditions in countries around the world.

international sos travel risk map According to the company, it also assesses security risks, which include vulnerability to crime as well as political violence such as terrorism and war, social unrest and natural disasters.

Sally Llewellyn, security director of International SOS, said there are “insignificant” security risks in some 25 locations around the world: American Samoa, Andorra, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands, Denmark, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Kiribati, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Marshall Islands, Monaco, Nauru, Norway, San Marino, Seychelles, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turks and Caicos, Tuvalu and Wallis and Futuna.

The level of risk varies within the borders of some countries. For example, the map shows that most of Egypt has a “high” security risk, but Cairo and areas east of the Nile are at low risk.

Mexico has a combination “moderate” and “high” risk on the map, while Thailand’s borders with Myanmar, Malaysia and Cambodia are considered riskier than the rest of the country, according to the map.

International SOS said security risks have increased this year in several places, including Ukraine, Colombia and the Sahel.

The Sahel is a region in North Africa that includes parts of Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, Sudan, and other countries. According to the map, the area has a mix of “high” and “extreme” security risks.