International travel has been shown to increase cultural understanding and empathy, which can help reduce bias. According to a 2018 Harris Poll of 1,300 business travelers, 87 percent said that business trips helped them to be more empathetic to others, as reported by National Geographic [\[1\]](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/does-travel-really-lead-to-empathy).
However, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted international travel, with a 73 percent decline in international tourist arrivals globally in 2020, according to the World Tourism Organization, as noted by Brookings [\[2\]](https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-covid-19-travel-shock-hit-tourism-dependent-economies-hard/).
Despite this, a study published in Frontiers in Psychology suggests that knowledge, perceived risk, and identity can have a significant positive impact on travel intention, which can influence attitudes towards other cultures and reduce bias [\[3\]](https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.821364/full).
It is important to note that international travel can also have negative impacts, such as the risk of spreading diseases, as demonstrated by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a study published in PNAS, the daily risk of exporting at least a single SARS CoV-2 case from mainland China via international travel exceeded 95% on January 13, 2020 [\[4\]](https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2002616117).
#### Sources:
1. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/does-travel-really-lead-to-empathy
2. https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-covid-19-travel-shock-hit-tourism-dependent-economies-hard/
3. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.821364/full
4. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2002616117
