From catching Covid-19 to fall right into a snowstorm traveling is usually a dangerous business as of late.
But how dangerous often relies on where you are going – and the way you define risk.
The safest cities: people’s opinions
A report published by British insurance company William Russell ranked the “safest cities in the world” in response to people’s opinions.
On this list which was based on perceived crime rates in Numbeo’s global crowdsourced database, Asia and Europe dominated the “safest” city rankings.
In response to the report, Taipei, Taiwan scored the highest and Buenos Aires, Argentina scored the lowest (rating: 36.7).
The safest cities: health and politics
But the top five places in terms of “health and safety” in the rating of “Euromonitor International”Index of the top 100 city destinations in 2022” are different.
This rating, published in December, analyzed “political stability and social security” which incorporates the impact of Covid-19 (akin to the total number of cases, deaths and vaccinations), in addition to statistics on traffic accidents, government corruption and terrorism.
Here, cities from the Middle East and Asia took the lead.
- Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Doha, Qatar
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Singapore, Singapore
Paris was ranked primary on research firm Euromonitor International’s 2022 list of “Top 100 City Destinations”, but Sharjah, UAE, pictured here, ranked top for health and safety.
Stefan Tomic | E+ | Getty Images
“The Middle East… ranks first 4,” said Vitalij Vladykin, senior research manager at Euromonitor International, while “Singapore ranks first in the political stability category for 2019-2022.”
‘Health and safety’ is one of the six aspects utilized by Euromonitor International to compile its annual index of city destinations.
The safest places: medical risk
The report by travel safety company International SOS not only analyzes the risk of infectious diseases, but additionally aspects that may affect medical care, akin to the quality of specialist and emergency services, the availability of medicines and language barriers.
His Travel risk map 2023 shows that much of North America and Western Europe – in addition to places like Turkey, Israel, Japan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates – are at “low” medical risk.
Medical risks by country.
International distress signal
The map shows that Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea and parts of Africa have “very high” medical risk, which International SOS defines as “almost nonexistent or severely overburdened” health systems.
In response to the report, the countries highlighted in purple have “significant disparities” in medical risk, which could mean disparities in levels of care between cities and rural areas.
This map doesn’t reflect the Covid-19 outbreak currently occurring in China, said Dr. Irene Lai, medical director of International SOS. She said quite than showing specific outbreaks, the map focused on “basic” medical situations in countries around the world.
The safest places: security threats
international SOS Travel risk map it also assesses security threats, which include crime, in addition to political violence akin to terrorism and war, civil unrest and vulnerability to natural disasters, in response to the company.
Sally Llewellyn, director of security for International SOS, said about 25 places around the world had “negligible” security threats: 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 Islands, Tuvalu and Wallis and Futuna.
Some countries have different levels of risk inside their borders. For instance, the map shows that almost all of Egypt has “high” security risks, but the risk is lower in Cairo and areas east of the Nile.
Mexico has a mix “medium” and “high” risk on the map, while Thailand’s borders with Myanmar, Malaysia and Cambodia are considered riskier than the rest of the country, in response to the map.
International SOS said security threats have increased in several places this yr, including Ukraine, Colombia and the Sahel.
The Sahel is a region in North Africa that features parts of Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, Sudan and other countries. As the map shows, the region has a combination of “high” and “extreme” security threats.