Forbes Advisor declares Karachi world’s second riskiest city for tourists

The Forbes Advisor has termed Karachi the world’s second riskiest city for tourists in its latest ranking. The magazine said that potential complications during travel, like medical emergencies or natural disasters, could cause turbulence for travellers and travel insurance might be a smart investment.

The Forbes Advisor compared 60 international cities across seven key metrics to find the most and least risky cities for tourists. It found that Caracas, Venezuela, topped the list as the riskiest city for tourists, while Singapore was ranked as the safest city.

Karachi was ranked only after Caracas on the list that was based on a study comparing 60 international cities across seven key metrics. The metrics or risk factors included crime, personal safety, health, infrastructure, natural disasters, and digital security.

According to Forbes Advisor, Karachi has the highest personal security risk. This reflects risk from crime, violence, terrorist threats, natural disasters as well as economic vulnerabilities. Moreover, the State Department has rated it second in accordance with the worst travel safety. The port city also has the fourth highest infrastructure security risk.

“Terrorism and ongoing violence by extremist elements have led to indiscriminate attacks on civilian, as well as local military and police, targets,” the US State Department stipulated in a travel advisory published in June 2023. They also gave Pakistan a “Level 3 advisory, cautioning visitors to reconsider travel," reported CNBC.

Caracas in Venezuela, which tops the list of the world’s riskiest cities, has the highest health security risk, reflecting the low quality of healthcare services and infrastructure as well as the highest crime risk.

Yangon in Myanmar holds the third place on the list. The city has the highest digital security risk, third highest personal security risk, reflecting risk from crime, violence, terrorist threats, natural disasters as well as economic vulnerabilities.

In contrast to the riskiest cities, the Forbes Advisor also revealed the names of the top three world’s safest cities, which are Singapore, Tokyo in Japan and Toronto in Canada. Singapore secured the best travel safety rating from the State Department. It has the lowest natural disaster risk and second lowest health security risk. Following Singapore is Tokyo that has the lowest health security risk and best travel safety rating from the State Department.