Forty-five per cent of international travellers say the terror threat will have an influence on their travel plans this year, up six percentage points over last year, according to IPK International’s latest Terror Threats and Tourism survey.
Though not majorly quelling the hunger to travel, IPK International stated that the fear of terror attacks is affecting destination choice, with travel flows expected to continue shifting from “unsafe” to “safe”.
Sixteen per cent of international travellers polled said they will not travel in the next 12 months or will only go on domestic trips within their own country. A further 29 per cent indicated they will continue to travel abroad, but only to countries they consider “safe”.
Compared to 2016, the safety perception of some travel destinations has declined. For example, the proportion of respondents rating Turkey as “unsafe” rose to 76 per cent from 64 per cent in 2016.
Overall, IPK International said destinations with the weakest safety image are Turkey, Israel, Egypt and Tunisia – whereas Canada, Switzerland, Australia and Scandinavia were perceived as safest.
However, results from the survey show regional differences between source markets in Europe, Asia as well as North and South America.
IPK International revealed that travellers from Asian source markets such as South Korea, China and Japan as well as Russia are more likely to let instability and terror warnings influence their travel plans. In contrast, travellers from European source markets such as Denmark, Sweden and Finland are less sensitive to the threat of terror attacks.
Singles are also relatively unimpressed by terror warnings, whereas people travelling with children are more cautious, according to IPK International.
