Safety appears to be the most important factor for the majority of consumers, in making the decision as to where to travel, even when a reservation has already been made, according to research carried out and presented at the ITB Future Day, at the ITB exhibition in Berlin.
The study with the title: “Travel Safety: Fears and Counter-Reactions of Global Tourists”, was carried out by ITB Berlin in cooperation with Travelzoo and a Tourism department of a British University, with a sample of 6,000 consumers in 9 countries.
Consumers from the biggest tourism markets worldwide, from Europe, from Japan, South Africa, India and North America, stated that the threat of a terrorism attack is the biggest fear whilst travelling.
Safety has become much more important than in a similar study in 2014. Tourists also worry about natural disasters, diseases and crime on a local and national level, in the country to which they consider to travel.
An executive of Travelzoo, Richard Singer, explained that travellers feel insecure depending on nationality. Countries who are affected more are France and Japan, by 50% and 48% respectively.
Sydney is the city considered the safest in the world, whereas Istanbul appears to create the most fear.
Mr. Singer said that, the percentage figures from people who had reported regret for bookings that they had made, stood out with consumers in certain countries showing proportionately high percentages: U.S.A. 24%, 17% in Great Britain and 13% in Germany.
He asked the tour operators to keep customers informed, not just before making their booking, but for the whole period up until they travel.
Instead of reducing prices to destinations that are not selling due to the fears of the consumers, the tour operators should be very clear with the information they provide, which should also be from official sources, using TUI as an example.
The big tour operators should be an example for all the others, developing certification systems for security and take preventative measures at each destination.