Dear readers,
Current crises and their geopolitical repercussions are making travel decisions increasingly complex. The 2026 Security Report by ERGO Travel Insurance shows how much these developments concern travellers. In the survey, 1,240 travellers were asked about their safety and security concerns while travelling. The three biggest concerns among respondents are crime (40 per cent), wars, political unrest or armed conflicts (38 per cent), and illness (31 per cent). Safety and security concerns also have tangible consequences for travel planning: 63 per cent of respondents would avoid certain destinations or deliberately choose countries considered safe. Almost 40 per cent say they would cut a trip short if the security situation deteriorated.
Yet safety and security in tourism are not only a concern for travellers and tour operators. Measures and structures designed to protect travellers can also affect the people who live in tourism destinations. In this autumn edition, we therefore look at travel safety and security from different perspectives and explore how it relates to human rights, local participation and sustainable development.
Using favela tourism in Rio de Janeiro as an example, Apoena Mano shows how tourists’ security needs are prioritised while residents have faced crime and police violence for decades. Yet such inequalities are not immutable. Sarah Becklake examines how security practices in tourism can themselves create new forms of insecurity, reinforce existing inequalities and thereby undermine sustainable development. Finally, in our interview with Mirko Jacubowski from A3M – a provider of travel risk management solutions – we look at how security risks are assessed for the tourism industry and what matters when communicating these risks without prematurely stigmatising destinations.
We hope you enjoy reading this edition.
