WTM research reveals terror's impact on travel

One third of British people have changed their travel plans due to the fear of terrorism according to research by World Travel Market London, the global event for the travel industry. A poll of more than 2,000 British holidaymakers found that 17 per cent are avoiding countries where the terror threat is high and 12 per cent are avoiding countries where there has already been a terrorist attack. Almost one fifth of UK respondents (16 per cent) are so worried about the threat of terrorism they refuse to travel and have even cancelled holidays. With the safety and security of a destination as one of, or the most important factors when deciding where to travel, holidaymakers (58 per cent) think there is still a distinct lack of travel advice on where is safe to go and don’t believe there is enough information out there. More than half of the respondents (55 per cent) stated that terrorism had not impacted their willingness to travel; however it is possible that it still affected their choice of destination with many holidaymakers opting for the ’safer’ destinations, with bookings to Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal seeing a spike in the first half of 2017. World Travel Market spokesperson Paul Nelson commented: “With most capital cities on high alert, it’s hardly surprising that we are more cautious in our decision when it comes to holidays. “However with Brits having such a strong desire to travel, I think its unlikely terrorism threats will be too detrimental to the resilient travel industry.” The Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) has categorised many European destinations into level of terror threat, listing those of high threat, general threat, underlying threat and shining a light on those countries with very low risk. It’s likely that this fear shared by one third of UK holidaymakers will make way for new holiday hotspots such as Malta, Slovenia and Iceland, which are considered a ‘low-risk, safe’ option by the FCO. Almost £3bn in business contracts are agreed at WTM London, which takes place every November. These contracts are the holidays consumers purchase the following year. More than 51,000 senior industry executives attend WTM London every year, conducting around one million meetings.