Upturn In Holiday Plans As New Zealand Tops List Of Safe Holiday Destinations For 2026

Easter weekend saw the travel season get underway, with 16% of UK adults choosing April as the month of the year when they plan to holiday abroad.

Remarkably, confidence in overseas travel has not diminished since the outbreak of war in the Middle East. The percentage of people planning an overseas holiday for 2026 holds firm at 80% – the same figure as January 2026 (80%). Furthermore, there is no evidence that concerns over geo-political tensions have resulted in people pushing back or delaying their holiday plans for 2026 – as there is little change on the position two-months ago. Nationally, 16% of UK adults plan to holiday abroad in April, rising to 19% in May and 22% this June.

Following widespread concern over the safety of overseas travel since the outbreak of hostilities in the Gulf region – and the potentially long-term implications on travel disruption for the medium term – AllClear polled a nationally representative sample of 2,000 adults on their travel plans for 2026 – and compared results to January 2026 – to establish a measure of sentiment swing since the outbreak of war in the Middle East. The results show the percentage of UK adults planning an overseas holiday this year (80%) is unchanged from the position two-months ago, although more people now cite safety as the most important factor when booking a holiday abroad. The perceived importance of price – finding a holiday bargain – has fallen sharply from 56% to 41%, whereas the importance placed on being safe overseas has shot up from 25% to 36%.

Given the conflicts in the Gulf region and Ukraine, the AllClear data also asked UK holidaymakers which locations they regarded to be the safest places to visit on holiday this summer. Nationally, 92% of respondents could identify holiday destinations they regarded to be safe. The far-flung home of Lord of the Rings, New Zealand, topped the list, followed by an upturn in popularity for visiting Ireland – and a retreat to the mountain safety of Switzerland. Canada, Spain, Iceland and Italy were also popular choices.

UK holiday marker views: The top 10 safest places to go on holiday
1
New Zealand
18%
2
Ireland
17%
3
Switzerland
17%
4
Spain
16%
5
Canada
15%
6
Italy
13%
7
Portugal
12%
8
Iceland
12%
9
France
11%
10
Sweden
11%

Following the military threat to Cyprus, the Mediterranean islands featured towards the bottom of the safe destinations list (Cyprus, 3%, and Malta, 7% ), as did Turkey (7%).

In addition to overseas trips, one in five respondents (21%) regarded Scotland and Wales to be safe choices for a family holiday this year.

Garry Nelson, Head of Corporate Affairs at AllClear Travel Insurance comments: “Following the outbreak of war in the Middle East – and the immediate focus on Britons getting home safely – the travel industry now also faces the prospect of longer-term disruption. Our own data suggests 29% of holidaymakers had travel plans for this year that would have involved a connecting flight or stop over in the Gulf region.”

“In uncertain times, our new tracking data helps us to understand the consumer mindset in terms of revised plans for overseas travel for the year ahead. There is an emphatic resilience in terms of people still wanting to travel and not delaying or cancelling trips for the Easter and Summer peak periods. Set against this, there is clear evidence that the consumer mindset has changed. The perceived importance of safety when planning a holiday has shot up as the most important factor – and UK adults have a clear sense of the places where they think they will be safe this year. Linked into this ‘flight to safety,’ it is important that people also get the best possible travel insurance that meets their needs. Our research suggests that still only around a third of UK adults (34%) look for top quality cover before they head abroad, so there is a way to go for people’s decisions on travel insurance to fall into line with their overall priority to be safe abroad this year.”