Good Trips Index · 4 min read · 2025

Four destinations that are one decision away from an ethical breakthrough

The Good Trip Index tracks 183 countries across eight measures. Most progress is slow. But for these four destinations, a single change could transform everything.

Short on time? Let us summarise this guide for you.

Morocco, Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia are all remarkable travel destinations with strong and improving ethical credentials. But each one has a single weak spot holding it back in the Good Trip Index. Here's what would change if that one barrier were removed.

Most movement in the Good Trip Index happens gradually. Years of social change. Slow political shifts. Progress measured in single-digit ranking jumps, edition by edition.

But occasionally, one concrete policy decision is all that separates a country from a dramatically higher ranking. For the four destinations below, that gap is real – and remarkably narrow.

Morocco – one law away from a top-100 finish

Morocco has been one of the Good Trip Index's quieter success stories. Over five years it's climbed 21 places to 138th overall, with improving press freedom, solid sustainability credentials and women's rights moving in the right direction.

As a destination, Morocco barely needs an introduction. Marrakech, the Atlas Mountains, the Sahara, the medinas of Fes and Chefchaouen, the Atlantic coast – it's one of the great travel experiences available from the UK, just four hours away by plane.

The single thing holding it back is Article 489 of its penal code, which criminalises same-sex relations. Remove that one law and Morocco's score would improve by dozens of places almost overnight – reflecting an ethical reality that, in many other respects, already exists on the ground.

That conversation does exist within Moroccan civil society, even if it remains politically difficult. Morocco is already a destination many LGBT+ travellers visit with care and awareness. It could become one that welcomes them without reservation.

Singapore – almost all the way there

Singapore sits 41st in the Good Trip Index and is still rising – up 30 places over five years. It has world-class quality of life scores, strong sustainability credentials, and a landmark 2022 decision to decriminalise homosexuality. For a city-state once considered one of Asia's more restrictive destinations, the pace of change has been remarkable.

The one remaining barrier is press freedom. Singapore ranks 123rd in the world on that measure. Media is tightly controlled, and the legal environment for journalists and government critics limits the kind of open public debate the index is designed to reflect.

It's worth being clear about what this means for visitors. Singapore is safe, welcoming and genuinely extraordinary. The press freedom score reflects the environment for residents and journalists – not the experience of a tourist on a two-week trip.

But the Good Trip Index measures countries as they are, not just as they feel on holiday. By that measure, one meaningful step towards media freedom would push Singapore toward the top 20 and cement its place as Asia's leading ethical destination.

Taiwan – a top-25 destination with one blind spot

Taiwan is one of the most striking cases in the entire index. Ranked 25th overall, it posts scores that would put most Western European nations to shame.

Its democracy ranking is 15th in the world. Human freedom sits at 14th. Press freedom at 24th. Women's rights at 27th. LGBT+ rights at 28th – Taiwan was the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage, and the index reflects that pioneering record.

The one metric dragging it down is sustainability, where Taiwan ranks 70th globally. That's nearly three times worse than its next-weakest score. For an island nation with one of the world's most advanced semiconductor industries and a heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels, it's not surprising – but it's conspicuous against the strength of everything else.

Taiwan has committed to net zero by 2050 and is investing heavily in offshore wind and solar. If those commitments translate into measurable progress, Taiwan won't just enter the top 20 – it could challenge the Scandinavian nations that have dominated the index since it launched.

For a destination that offers night markets, mountain trails, hot springs and one of the world's great food cultures, the ethical credentials are already extraordinary. Sustainability is the final piece.

Malaysia – the index's biggest climber, held back by one barrier

No country in the Good Trip Index has improved more dramatically over five years than Malaysia. It's climbed 56 places to 82nd overall – an extraordinary jump by any measure.

Sustainability is strong. Quality of life is genuinely good and improving. Democracy has been moving in the right direction. And Malaysia as a destination is hard to beat – Kuala Lumpur, the rainforests of Borneo, the beaches of Langkawi, and a food culture that many serious travellers consider among the finest on earth.

But Malaysia's LGBT+ rights score sits at 195th in the world. That's one of the lowest in the entire index, and the single metric pulling down an otherwise increasingly impressive ethical profile. The gap between Malaysia's overall trajectory and that one score is one of the starkest in the dataset.

A country that has made more ethical progress than almost any other over five years deserves to be recognised for it. The one change that would allow that recognition without qualification is also the one that would matter most to the people it affects.

About the Good Trip Index

Rankings are taken from Holiday Extras' Good Trip Index 2026, which scores 183 countries across eight measures of ethical travel. Five-year comparisons run from the index's launch in 2022 to the current 2026 edition.