"Amid Global Turmoil, the Wealthy Face a New Dilemma: Vacation Destinations in Question | Vanity Fair"

“Mexico is too dangerous, and Europe is too antisemitic,” a friend texted me when we were, by process of elimination, discussing where to vacation in the coming months. A few days later, I overheard two women at a boutique exercise studio on the Upper East Side question whether they should skip Greece, a requisite stop on the one-percenters’ seasonal travel circuit—what’s a summer without a night at Scorpios in Mykonos?—because of the missile firings aimed at Cyprus in March. (Mykonos is about 480 miles from the Cypriot capital of Nicosia.)

From the war with Iran (which is currently in a fragile ceasefire) to the precarious circumstances in the Strait of Hormuz (through which 20% of the world’s oil and liquified gas passes), which has airlines across Europe cutting back on routes, it’s no wonder that the current geopolitical situation is promoting a deep sense of anxiety. What people outside of the country’s wealthiest bubbles may not realize, though, is that those most accustomed to jetting around the world with relative ease are processing this fear in a very specific way: by worrying about how they’ll spend their days as they move into peak summer travel season, all while many parts of the world contend with persistent bombing and widespread displacement.

Some of these same people got stuck in the Gulf region after the airspace closed at the beginning of the war. Others couldn’t escape the Caribbean in January, right after the American raid on Venezuela. Months later, the unknowns are more unknown than ever—and that fact, plus the fear of being stranded, is redrawing the map of where the wealthy are willing to venture. According to Exclusive Resorts, a vacation booking platform for ultra-high-net-worth individuals (typically defined as having at least $30 million in investable assets), the top five booking destinations this summer are domestic; back in 2025, two of the top spots were international.

Stuart McNeill, CEO of Knightsbridge Circle, a global luxury lifestyle management service, says he isn’t seeing so much panic around specific destinations, but a broader sense of unease about unpredictability. As McNeill explains, it’s not so much that his members—about 100 of them, many of whom have third and fourth homes—say they feel “unsafe” in Europe or the Middle East, but more a lack of confidence in the systems around travel, airlines, infrastructure, and how seamless their journeys will be. One client of Knightsbridge’s is forgoing coveted tickets to Wimbledon because that person felt uneasy about the airport experience and TSA. If you can’t be a master of your own travel universe, why bother?

Then again: Who wants to miss a year at Il San Pietro, asks Dr. Melissa Doft, a plastic surgeon on Park Avenue. She is keeping her usual July reservation at the storied hotel built into a cliff perched over the sea. Still, generally, she says she’s “looking to travel to places which we believe will be safe from terrorist attacks and countries friendly to America.” Her current summer itinerary includes Australia, which she concedes might not be as safe, New Zealand, and Bali. “We are planning on staying in more remote areas away from crowded cities.”

If there’s one unifying ethos among the one percent, it’s control at all costs. In normal times, money really can provide some buffer against the whims of the world. But this is much less true in an era marked by persistent wars.

There are, however, work-arounds for those willing to pay premiums for certain routes. Over spring break in March, Dr. Doft, her husband, and two sons went to Thailand. They deliberately took an Asian airline carrier to avoid stops in the Middle East—something they will also do this summer on their trip to the Asia-Pacific region.

Similarly, Upper East Side–based art collector and former Christie’s specialist Tianyue Jiang says that given the possibility of airline fuel being rationed, she’ll streamline her summer travel to Italy, France, and Greece by avoiding connecting flights, sticking to larger, more international airlines to dodge cancellations, and taking trains or boats for inter-city and island transfers.

Even that will be more expensive with fuel surcharges, according to David Zipkin, cofounder of Tradewind Aviation, which operates both private and scheduled routes. “In our case, it’s only about an 8% price increase. I don’t think that will deter summer plans, but if higher prices continue into fall, we’ll see a big drop in demand,” he says.

Last summer was different, more of a “book it and figure it out later” vibe, according to Matt Butler, a travel adviser with Fora who often plans six-figure vacations. “This summer, people are doing the math—and checking the temperature. Between pricey flights, $2,000-per-night minimum hotel nights, and 100-degree heat in the Med, my clients are questioning the whole proposition. Toss in the anxiety about global politics, and Nantucket, Jackson Hole, and Hawaii all start looking like very compelling alternatives,” he says.

According to McNeill, another Knightsbridge client chose to spend four months in Sag Harbor rather than going to Italy. But that option won’t be available for every white-shoe wannabe: As a recent headline in The Real Deal put it, “Tight Inventory Is Rankling the Hamptons’ Resi Market.”

Instead of August in Naples, Italy, travelers might turn to Naples, Florida. The newly renovated Naples Beach Club, a Four Seasons Resort, is seeing steady booking for the summer months, typically considered this region’s very lowest season. The Pendry in Park City, Utah, more known for its ski slopes, has seen a 15% uptick in summer demand compared to last year, says John Rolfs, the hotel’s general manager.

Matt Deitch, managing principal at Southworth—a private real-estate development with locations in the Bahamas, Massachusetts, and Colorado, where homes start in the seven-figures—has noticed members taking fewer international trips, while there have also been record-high occupancy rates during school vacations this year. He predicts the trend will continue into July and August.

Travel patterns are evolving based on favorable geography. Butler says he is sending more clients to French Polynesia because “it’s totally secluded from the nukes and cheaper than the Maldives for the same overwater villa experience.” Still, even the merely wealthy—those who fly in the front of the plane, but not their own plane—are tortured by a looming question: “Is it safe to travel internationally?”

The answer may come down to perception. Jack Ezon, who runs the New York City–based luxury travel advisory Embark Beyond, says 95% of his company’s trips to Egypt, 43% to Turkey, and 20% to Morocco were cancelled at a time when the State Department’s travel advisory for all those territories was at a level two—which instructs travelers to “exercise increased caution.” That’s the same designation currently given for Italy, France, Spain, the Bahamas, and Turks and Caicos. Meanwhile, certain areas in Turkey, such as the southeast and the border region with Syria and Iraq, and the Middle and North Sinai in Egypt, are all at a level four: Do not travel.

And what does “safety” actually mean, anyway? For the ultra-rich, at least, the word is less about material well-being and more a euphemism for being able to do exactly what they want, when they want.

Costa Rica, Monaco, Sweden, and most of Turkey are all level two, deemed equally “safe” by the US State Department. But the worried rich aren’t fretting over trips to Turks and Caicos or Sweden. (In fact, Turks and Caicos are seeing a record number of visitors right now, according to the island’s tourism authority. And VistaJet, the private aviation company, reports that interest in private charters to Sweden is up 8% this year.)

The consensus among many top travel advisers is to go ahead with your plans while simply springing for gold-plated trip insurance. According to them, elaborate and expensive extraction plans are probably overkill—unless you’re planning a trip to classic summer vacation destinations like Syria, North Korea, or Yemen.

Even with a tilt toward domestic destinations, Ibiza, Capri, Santorini, Positano, Saint Tropez, and Mallorca will still likely be crawling with Americans come July. Demand is so high on the Amalfi Coast right now that some rooms are going for $6,000 a night.

Last summer, former Valentino executive June Haynes traveled to Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt with her partner to source for their forthcoming design and fashion collection. This year, she says, they’re heading to Spain “due mainly to widespread travel warnings.” Their brand, JJUIN, is opening its first store in East Hampton this summer. Barbara Muckermann, CEO of Kempinski Hotels, says the luxury hotel brand is seeing more bookings from Americans, particularly for cooler destinations such as Saint Moritz, Prague, Munich, and Berlin. VistaJet says that interest in private charters to Albania—a favorite spot of former NYC mayor Eric Adams and the future site of a five-star resort backed by Jared Kushner’s private equity company—is up 211% this year.

But Anant Sharma, a guest lecturer at the EHL hospitality school in Lausanne, Switzerland, is bullish on the moneyed crowd continuing to travel this summer, despite all the deterrents. “The wealthy aren’t going to care about some upcharge on their business class ticket,” Sharma told an audience at the Embark Immersion travel conference in April. More than anything, he said, “People want escapism.”

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