The country named the safest place for travel in 2024

When planning a trip, it's not just about the cost or distance; safety is also crucial. To assist you in determining where to travel this year, Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection has released a report on the safest destinations. It highlights the best places to visit in 2024 when safety is a top priority.

For nine years, the company has been compiling its list of the world's safest countries to visit by surveying travelers, which it evaluated alongside data from the Global Peace Index and the State Department's travel safety ratings, as well as GeoSure Global's average scores for major cities in each country. However, several other factors have changed over the past decade in how the list is compiled. This was reported by yahoo.com.

"Initially, a safe place was one that was essentially free of terrorist activity. Then it became a place safe from disease outbreaks. Now it's a place where all types of people can move freely without discrimination or harassment," the company shared in its 2024 ranking.

Ranked No. 1 among the places where people can move freely, stay free of disease, and be protected from severe weather, according to the ranking, is Canada, which has risen from sixth place in 2023. Regarding how it reached the top spot, the company shared that "cold weather and low population density make for safe travel."

Canada was also ranked first in terms of transportation safety, lack of violent crime, and health measures, as well as the safest place for women and members of the LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities. However, Berkshire Hathaway noted that there are still natural disasters to keep in mind when visiting Canada, with forest fires being the main concern.

Second place in 2024 was taken by Switzerland, which rose from ninth place in 2023, receiving high marks for its history of low crime and safety. However, the company noted that Canada is a place where natural disasters, including avalanches and landslides, are possible.

Norway in third place, Ireland in fourth place, and the Netherlands in fifth place round out the top five safest countries - the latter fell from the top spot in 2023 due to an increase in petty crime.