Over the past year, we provided travel advice for 14'015 trips taken by 19'215 travelers to 205 different countries and territories. From two-week beach escapes to three-month sabbaticals and round-the-world adventures, Swiss travelers really did scatter across the map. But they didn’t spread out evenly. Let’s take a look at the data.

Where everyone went: The big five

Although 205 destinations appear in our data, five countries dominate:

• Thailand

• Indonesia

• Brazil

• Tanzania

• Vietnam
  
  

Together, these five account for almost half of all trips we advised on.

Thailand is in a league of its own: one in seven trips includes Thailand, a clear anchor of Southeast Asia travel – often as the first stop on a longer route through the region, sometimes as a standalone beach, culture, or diving trip.

For us as a travel clinic, that means a lot of conversations about rabies, malaria, Japanese encephalitis, sexual health and other travel health concerns, often repeated several times a day (our pleasure, of course!).

Hover over (or tap, on mobile) the individual countries on the second slide of the interactive graphic to see how many people visited each destination!

Winners, losers, and new favourites

The travel map doesn’t stay still from year to year. In 2024, our top destinations were Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Tanzania and Brazil (in that order). In 2025, some destinations climbed the rankings, while others slipped a few places.

Two countries stand out:

• United Arab Emirates (UAE) jumped 16 places

• Sri Lanka climbed 13 places

In both cases, a clear pattern emerges: stopover countries are becoming the destination. Instead of just changing planes in Dubai or Abu Dhabi on the way to Asia, travelers are now planning a few days (or an entire holiday) in the Gulf. Sri Lanka, too, has shifted from “side trip next to India” to the centerpiece of many itineraries.

At the same time, classic long-haul destinations such as the United States or parts of South America lost a bit of ground in the ranking. Asia and the Indian Ocean were simply booming in 2025.

Stopover cities: From “plane change” to highlight

If you look at the top transit hubs, one theme dominates.

Arabian Gulf cities route travelers towards Southeast Asia and Oceania. Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi appear again and again as the central crossroads. In Africa, Addis Ababa has become the gateway to East Africa’s safari circuit. In Europe, Madrid is the bridge to South America. And cities like Bangkok and Singapore play a double role: they’re both connection and destination.

Health-wise, that means: multiple climate zones, different food and hygiene standards, and different mosquito-borne disease areas on the way to or from urban centers – all on one trip. It makes good pre-travel medical consultation even more important, especially when travelers aren’t always aware how many risk profiles they’re combining in a single itinerary.

The places nobody visited

Of the more than 14'000 trips to over 200 countries, a handful of states and territories never showed up in our consultation rooms – not even once.

• Some are tiny and easily overlooked (Andorra, Liechtenstein, San Marino).

• Some are hard to reach or simply far away (Nauru, Marshall Islands, Micronesia).

• Others are affected by conflict or considered too risky (Libya, Haiti).

And then there is the real surprise:
Despite all this global wandering, we recorded exactly zero trips to Denmark.
(Greenland did make a solo appearance but mainland Denmark stayed off our map.)

Maybe everyone assumed everyone else was going to Denmark – and in the end, no one did.

Who’s traveling: Alone, but not lonely

If you just look at itineraries, 2025 really does look like the year of the solo traveler:

• 72.9 % of trips were booked as solo trips

• 27.1 % as group trips

But trips and travelers aren’t the same thing. A family of four counts as one trip in our statistics – but as four travelers. Once you take that into account, the picture changes: overall, roughly half of all people are actually traveling with someone else – as a couple, with friends, as a family or in a guided group.

For us, that changes the medical conversation. Solo travelers often have different questions (safety, what to do if they fall ill on their own, mental load) than families, for whom issues like child vaccinations suddenly become central.

How long do people travel?

Short city breaks play a role, but long-format travel clearly dominates our data.

• 40 % of trips last 2–4 weeks

• 25.2 % last 1–2 weeks

• 21 % stretch to 1–3 months

• Only a small share is under one week, and a tiny sliver goes beyond a year

In other words: two to four weeks is the standard holiday, just like last year, and every fifth trip is effectively a mini-sabbatical. Longer time abroad means more exposure to local food, water and insects, more internal travel within a country, and often several countries in one go. That makes tailored vaccination planning, mosquito-bite protection and travel pharmacy advice particularly important.

Safaris and classic backpacker routes

Some travel patterns never go out of style.

Southern Africa’s safari circuits

Our data shows Southern Africa dominating multi-country safaris. The most popular combinations link:

• Botswana + South Africa

• Botswana + Zimbabwe (Victoria Falls)

• Namibia + South Africa

Plus Kenya + Tanzania as East Africa’s classic safari circuit.

Travelers string together national parks, dunes, coastlines and iconic landmarks in one itinerary, often crossing borders several times. Medically, that means navigating different mosquito-borne disease risk areas, yellow fever vaccination rules, and varying vaccination requirements within a single trip.

South America’s “Gringo Trail”

The legendary “Gringo Trail” remains a favorite for backpackers. Traditionally, it spans Colombia to Patagonia, but in practice our data shows it splitting into two main routes:

• Brazil–Argentina in the south

• Peru–Bolivia–Chile in the Andes

Only a few travelers connect the entire corridor in one go, but those who do clock up a remarkable number of border crossings.

Southeast Asia’s “Banana Pancake Trail”

Even more popular is Southeast Asia’s version: the “Banana Pancake Trail”, named after the Western breakfast served at almost every guesthouse from Bangkok to Bali.

We saw almost 70 % more trips on this route than on the Gringo Trail. Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and their neighbors continue to attract long-term travelers, digital nomads and first-time backpackers alike.

For us, these classic routes are always a great opportunity to double-check the details: Which countries exactly, in which order, at which time of year? A small change in itinerary can suddenly mean an additional vaccine or malaria medication.

One-of-a-kind adventures

At the other extreme of the spectrum are the 17 destinations that appeared only once in our 2025 data set – seventeen lone-wolf trips.

Places like Bonaire, Kiribati, Micronesia, Wallis and Futuna, Greenland, Kuwait or the U.S. Virgin Islands were each visited by exactly one traveler.

These one-off journeys often involve very specific motives: research projects, visiting friends and family, niche diving spots, or completely unconventional route planning. Medically, they can be surprisingly demanding because standard country profiles don’t always fit and information may be scarce. But that’s what we’re here for!

What this means for travelers in 2026

Looking back at 2025, a few themes stand out:

• Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean are booming, especially Thailand and Sri Lanka.

• Stopovers are turning into full destinations in the Gulf and East Africa.

• Longer trips and multi-country routes are common, from sabbaticals to safari circuits and backpacker trails.

• At the same time, high-risk regions and remote microstates remain niche, or are avoided entirely.

For travelers, the takeaway is simple: the more countries and the longer the trip, the more worthwhile a personal pre-travel medical consultation becomes. Vaccination plans, mosquito-bite prevention, medication and destination-specific advice are hard to standardize for a 10-country backpacking trip or a three-month sabbatical.

For us, these data are more than just charts, they show how wide the world of Swiss travel really is and reinforce our goal of offering the best medical advice for every itinerary, from classic routes to one-of-a-kind adventures.

Here’s to a healthy, adventure-filled 2026!