Caracas, Venezuela tops risky city list for tourists while Sydney is fourth safest, says Forbes Advisor Survey
Forbes Advisor Survey has revealed the riskiest and safest cities for tourists with Caracas, Venezuela and Sydney, Australia respectively making the list.
Forbes Advisor compared 60 international cities across seven key metrics to determine the safety for tourists in terms of crimes, infrastructure safety, digital safety and other factors. While Caracas came out as the most dangerous ahead of Karachi, Pakistan, Sydney was considered fourth safest behind Singapore, Tokyo and Toronto.
Study methodology
- Travel safety rating. They referenced data from The United States Department of State 2024, which reflects country-level data.
- Crime risk. The metric provides an estimation of the overall level of crime with data coming from Numbeo, 2024.
- Personal security risk. This considers how at-risk citizens are from crime, violence, terrorist threats, natural disasters, and economic vulnerabilities with data coming from The Economist, 2021.
- Health security risk. The metric reflects the level and quality of healthcare services and infrastructure with data coming from The Economist, 2021.
- Infrastructure security risk. It reflects the availability and quality of city infrastructure and its vulnerability to man-made and natural disasters with data coming from The Economist, 2021.
- Natural disaster risk. The metric reflects exposure and vulnerability to natural disasters based on The World Risk Report published by Ruhr University Bochum, 2023.
- Digital security risk. This reflects the ability of citizens to freely use the internet without fear of privacy violations, identity theft, and online attacks based on data from The Economist, 2021.
Riskiest cities for tourists
- Caracas, Venezuela. This city tops the list with the highest health security and crime risk. It also showed the second highest in infrastructure and digital security risks. Caracas was also ranked as the worst travel safety rating from the US State Department at a level 4 (do not travel).
- Karachi, Pakistan. The city has the highest personal security risk and the second worst travel safety rating from the US State Department at level 3 (reconsider travel).
Other cities in the list include Yangon (Myanmar), Lagos (Nigeria), Manila (Philippines), Dhaka (Bangladesh), Bogota (Colombia), Cairo (Egypt), Mexico City (Mexico), and Quito (Ecuador).
Safest cities for tourists
- Singapore. The city ranked the best travel safety rating from the State Department with level 1 (exercise normal precautions). It also ranked the lowest natural disaster risk and the second lowest in health, infrastructure, and digital security risks.
- Tokyo, Japan. Ranked lowest with health security risk and fifth lowest for infrastructure security risk. The city also ranked the best travel safety rating from the State Department with level 1.
Other cities in the list include Toronto (Canada), Sydney (Australia), and Zurich (Switzerland).
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
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