A survey by travel risk and crisis response provider Global Rescue has reported a rise in traveler confidence as the fear of COVID-19 begins to subside.
Global Rescue’s Traveler Sentiment and Safety Survey showed that fear of COVID-19 infection or quarantine as a primary concern among travelers has dropped by 37 percent since the beginning of the pandemic. While 78 percent of respondents reported they were “much less” or “less” concerned about travel safety in 2021 compared to 2020.
“Travelers are twice as likely to plan international trips within the next six months as they were in September 2020,” said Dan Richards, CEO of Global Rescue, in a press release statement. “Nearly three-quarters of surveyed travelers have already taken a domestic trip or are planning to take one before July.”
The use of fast, on-site testing was embraced by the majority of respondents, with 91 percent saying they would submit to rapid, on-site testing to check for coronavirus before travel, and 80 percent saying they would pay for the test depending on cost. Surveyed travelers were split in their support for the use of vaccine certificates for domestic travel, with 46 percent in support of certificates and 42 percent against their use. While the use of vaccine certificates for international travel was more popular, with 70 percent of respondents supporting their use.
The survey revealed that 45 percent of respondents expressed a preference to control their own vaccination and testing data, rather than having that data entrusted to a centralized organization; while 16 percent of respondents did not want the data collected at all.
“Government officials must take a leadership role in recommending secure technology standards where users, rather than centralized organizations, store and control data used for vaccine, previous infection and testing verification for COVID-19 and future disease outbreaks,” said Richards. “By leveraging improvements in technology, including tools that detect active infection of COVID-19 and emerging diseases on exhaled breath, we can effectively recover from, and prevent, disease spread while boosting and protecting the travel and hospitality industry.”
A majority of travelers reported that they would modify their trips plans due to the pandemic, with 54 percent saying they would avoid crowded destinations and 22 percent saying they would avoid destinations with insufficient medical facilities. The survey also revealed that 49 percent of respondents thought medical evacuation from the point of illness or injury was the most important travel protection service today, followed by Cancel For Any Reason trip insurance to protect against financial loss from last minute trip cancellation or disruption, which 21 percent of respondents thought was the most important protection.
For more information, visit globalrescue.com.
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