Not surprisingly, Americans ranked safety and security as top concerns for international travel, according to results of a recently released survey conducted for the US Travel Insurance Association.
Surprisingly, however was the finding that despite the Iceland volcanic eruption, Americans only ranked natural disaster on a par with kidnapping (44 percent).
“When it comes to choice of destination, however, Americans are slightly more cautious, with 60 percent of those polled saying that safety and security concerns would influence their choice of an overseas destination,” the report found.
The UStiA survey also found that more than two-thirds of those polled were moderately to highly concerned over terrorism, followed closely by quality of law enforcement, which concerned nearly 65 percent of respondents.
“While year to year concerns over safety and security have remained fairly consistent, in general, Americans are less worried than in 2009 over health issues,” the survey found.
Only 46 percent of Americans said that health concerns would influence their choice of international destination, in contrast to 2009, when 56 percent cited health issues as a determining factor in where they would travel.
“UStiA attributes the 10 drop in part to the diminished health threat posed by the H1N1 virus this year,” the group said.
Also not surprisingly, the survey found that older travelers are more concerned about safety, security, and health issues than are younger-aged travelers. More than three out of four travelers aged 54 and over ranked terrorism as the No. 1 concern, and 71 percent expressed concern over quality of law enforcement.
By David Wilkening
