A new global travel anxiety survey found terrorism and disease to be the biggest deterrents of travel, whilst Australia and New Zealand came out on top for the safest destinations.
A new report, entitled How Global Voices Shape Travel Choices: The Impact of Consumer Apprehension on Travel Intention, has been released with a number of interesting findings for the travel industry.
Conducted by global marketing firm GeoBranding Center and AIG Travel, the report surveyed 2,000 American, European and other global travelers worldwide during October 2015 via an online survey by the CMO Council and Travelzoo.
The report found that one in four travellers changed their vacation plans in the past year due to global or local safety, security or health concerns. Not surprisingly, terrorism topped the list of reasons tourists avoided travel to certain destinations, followed by concerns over infectious diseases – such as Ebola.
But in great news for the Aussie and Kiwi travel industry, both Australia and New Zealand were considered the “most desirable” and “safest destinations” to travel to, followed by island-nations in the Pacific Ocean and Western Europe. More than 62 per cent of travellers reported that they’d like to visit Australia and New Zealand, two countries which have a zero rate of travel concern or anxiety.
This compares to 10 per cent or less who want to visit North, Central or West Africa and the Middle East.
The report also found that 80 per cent of travellers are likely to take out travel insurance in the future due to safety concerns and uncertainty. Almost half of the participants had already taken out travel insurance at the time of the survey.
Reflecting growing anxiety levels, nearly three quarters (74 per cent) expect to add trip cancellation insurance, nearly half (47 per cent) will consider political or emergency evacuation policies, and 42 per cent are thinking about coverage that provides accidental death benefits in today’s current travel climate.
Are you noticing an increase in inbound tourism in Australia? Do you think this report will help you sell more travel insurance? Let us know what you think.