Travelers looking to plan their 2022 trips should consider visiting destinations like Iceland, New Zealand and Canada, ranked as the top three safest countries according to travel insurance provider Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection’s (BHTP) seventh annual State of Travel Insurance report. The report also ranks the safest cities in the world, with Montreal, Amsterdam and Tokyo taking the top three spots.
To determine these rankings, BHTP analyzes a combination of State of Travel Insurance 2022 survey responses from travelers who have been to the destinations and several third-party data sources. These additional sources evaluate safety concerns such as terrorism, weather emergencies, health measures and the safety of women and minorities.
Top 10 Safest Countries
- Iceland
- New Zealand
- Canada
- Sweden
- Japan
- Australia
- Switzerland
- Ireland
- Germany
- United Kingdom
Top 10 Safest Cities
- Montreal
- Amsterdam
- Tokyo
- Singapore
- Sydney
- London
- Barcelona
- Hong Kong
- Berlin
- Rome
In order to identify the safest countries, BHTP asked survey respondents which countries they had traveled to in the last five years, and only allowed those who had visited the select destinations to rank them based on specific criteria related to safety concerns. BHTP then augmented those ratings with other indices including the Global Peace Index, as well as an index on COVID performance based on data from Our World in Data, calculating a weighted score that reflects each country’s overall safety.
For the safest cities, BHTP pulled destinations from readily available lists created by expert sources including Expedia and American Express, narrowing down to 23 cities. Similar to safest countries, only travelers that had previously visited these cities were able to rank them using a variety of safety measures and based on personal experience. Lastly, combining those numbers with recent safety survey ratings from The Economist and GeoSure Global, BHTP outlined final results.
The State of Travel Insurance survey also asked people to share what they feel are the top threats to 2022 travel. Not surprisingly, 56% said disease outbreaks, and 51% said international terrorism. However it is interesting to note these numbers are about 7% lower than the 2021 survey reported.
BHTP’s State of Travel Insurance research has been conducted each fall since 2015 by Polymath Research + Marketing, using independent national panels surveying thousands of consumers on future expectations in travel insurance and travel habits. Click here to read more on the safest cities ranking and here to read more on safest countries. To request a full report, members of the media can email the contact below.
