World's most high risk travel destination? Yemen's Sana'a. Photo / Vicki Virtue, NZH Travel
World's most high risk travel destination? Yemen's Sana'a. Photo / Vicki Virtue, NZH Travel
When it comes to travelling abroad, the world has never been easier to explore than it is right now.
But ease of travel and developments in technology also mean there are growing risks when visiting foreign countries. These have been highlighted in a new map that shows where the most dangerous countries in the world are located.
The interactive Travel Risk Map shows the countries where people are most likely to have trouble when it comes to road safety, security and medical matters.
Security risks: The World's most dangerous countries for security. Photo / Supplied
Topping the list for 2020 as the most dangerous place to travel for safety and security includes Libya and Somalia, whereas the safest places to put on your holiday itinerary include Finland, Norway and Iceland.
According to Matthew Bradley, regional security director at International SOS, the number one risk for next year is geopolitical shifts.
"Civil unrest is generated from inequality and people wanting to have a different situation in their country than they had in the past," Mr Bradley told Forbes.
"We've seen that most notably in Hong Kong, in other lower-risk countries like Chile and in some higher-risk countries like Bolivia, Ecuador and Lebanon."
Health risks: The world's worst countries for travel medical risks. Photo / Supplied
The map shows five colours – green as the safest, yellow, orange, red and burgundy as the most dangerous – that reflect the level of concern from each region.
When it comes to health, Yemen was labelled as a high-risk country along with Syria and North Korea, while Australia, Ireland and Sweden came out as some of the places with a low risk of disease.
Yemen, once an off-beat travel favourite, has crashed to the bottom of the health risk rankings. Photo / NZH Travel, File
Mexico, which has dominated headlines recently following the murder of an American family, has a range of ratings from moderate to high risk.
According to International SOS, the ratings are based on "the current threat posed to travellers by political violence (including terrorism, insurgency, politically motivated unrest and war), social unrest (including sectarian, communal and ethnic violence) as well as violent and petty crime".
Roadside safety: The most dangerous countries to drive. Photo / Supplied
"There are certain regions within each country that may have a higher risk or might be more dangerous than others," Erika Weisbrod, director of security solutions at International SOS, told Forbes.
"So understanding where you're going in a country is important as opposed to ruling out travel to a country altogether."
Other factors that weigh in to how the map is determined include transportation infrastructure, industrial relations and how a country responds to a natural disaster.
When it comes to determining a travel medical risk rating, the International SOS looked at a country's infectious disease burden, environmental factors, medical evacuation data, road trauma data, standard of emergency medical services, outpatient and inpatient medical care, access to quality pharmaceutical supplies, and cultural, language or administrative barriers.
