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Dolores Park in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco, California, US, on Friday, May 31, 2024. For all the worries about a doom loop fueled by post-pandemic hybrid work, persistent homelessness and a fentanyl epidemic, San Francisco is once agai

SAN FRANCISCO – A new survey ranks San Francisco among the safest cities in the world for tourists.

In fact, San Francisco was one of only two U.S. cities, the other being Hawaii’s capital, Honolulu, that ranked in the worldwide survey by travel insurance company Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection (BHTP) and shared by Travel + Leisure magazine. 

What we know:

Honolulu came in 5th, and San Francisco ranked 15th safest. European cities made up the majority of the list. 

“With global uncertainty and safety concerns top of mind this year, travelers are more thoughtful than ever with where they choose to explore,” head of marketing for BHTP, Carol Mueller told Travel + Leisure.  

The survey conducted in August ranked the top 15 safest cities in the world.

Targeted by Trump

The findings come as San Francisco has made national headlines in recent days, being targeted by Donald Trump as a crime-ridden “mess” and in need of federal intervention. 

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On Thursday, hours after the deployment of federal troops to Coast Guard Island Alameda, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie announced that he had spoken with Trump and received word that he was calling off plans to send troops into the city. 

In a news release, the mayor offered details of that conversation and said, “I told him the same thing I told our residents: San Francisco is on the rise. Visitors are coming back, buildings are getting leased and purchased, and workers are coming back to the office.”

Lurie did acknowledge that the city still had to clean up its streets of illicit drugs and invited other federal entities to partner with San Francisco to address that problem.

“We have work to do, and we would welcome continued partnerships with the FBI, DEA, ATF, and U.S. Attorney to get drugs and drug dealers off our streets,” the mayor said, “but having the military and militarized immigration enforcement in our city will hinder our recovery.” 

Crime down

Dig deeper:

Figures have shown that crime is down in the region.

Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom’s office pointed to those figures, saying San Francisco has seen a 22% drop in overall violent crime, and notably a 45% decrease in homicides and 40% decrease in robberies. 

Berkshire Hathaway’s survey asked respondents about various aspects of safety when traveling, including crime, terrorism, and disease, and the level of security among travelers of color and the LGBTQIA+ community.

Researchers also included findings from online cost of living platform Numbeo, safety and security intelligence site GeoSure Global, and the British news and current affairs publication The Economist.

“The Economist has it [San Francisco] tied with London as the 15th-safest city, and says it’s safer than Zurich. Numbeo and GeoSure wouldn’t go that far, but agree that it’s fairly safe,” the travel insurance company said. 

Berkshire Hathaway did make mention of the city’s large homeless population.

“There’s no way to sugarcoat the fact that homelessness is a problem in San Francisco,” BHTP’s researchers noted, adding, “This unfortunate reality does make petty crime more of a problem for travelers.”

At the top of the list was the capital of Iceland, Reykjavik, which was ranked the world’s safest city for a second year in a row.  

“Safest Cities in the World” full list:  Reykjavik, IcelandCopenhagen, DenmarkZurich, SwitzerlandAmsterdam, NetherlandsHonoluluSydney, AustraliaBarcelona, SpainLisbon, PortugalTokyo, JapanDublin, IrelandVenice, ItalySeoul, KoreaLondon, UKSingaporeSan Francisco

(Source: Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection)

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