Tourism destinations are facing growing disruption from geopolitical tensions, climate-related events and digital outages, highlighting the need for greater resilience across the sector, according to new research from Zurich Insurance Group and the World Economic Forum.

The Travel & Tourism Development Index 2026 assesses 110 economies on the infrastructure, systems, workforce and policies supporting tourism, with resilience and the ability to maintain operations during disruption becoming an increasingly important consideration.

The report notes that tourism is being disrupted more frequently by events including geopolitical tensions, economic volatility, extreme weather and failures affecting digital systems. Recent examples cited include aviation disruption linked to the conflict in Iran, alongside heatwaves and wildfires across Europe and North America.

Zurich said resilience increasingly depends on destinations being able to keep people moving, communicate effectively with travellers, protect critical infrastructure and restore confidence following an incident.

The findings come as international tourism reaches record levels. Some 1.5bn people travelled internationally in 2025, contributing an estimated US$11.6trn (£8.76trn) to the global economy and supporting 366m jobs. However, the report warns that increasing visitor numbers are also placing greater pressure on public services, transport, housing and other infrastructure.

The report identifies five priorities for improving resilience, including maintaining transport and digital systems during disruption, spreading tourism demand across markets and seasons, investing in infrastructure and building workforce capacity.

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