Business travellers view terrorism as the greatest safety risk they face on a trip, a study has found.
Almost half of road warriors (45%) rank it as their greatest concern when travelling for business, higher than street crime (15%), illness/disease outbreaks (13%), property theft (12%), kidnapping (8%) or natural disasters (6%).
The study from the GBTA Foundation found travellers not only view terrorism as a safety threat, but also agree it has an impact on the industry more broadly and can change the frequency or ways in which people travel.
While one-third of business travelers feel safe when they travel regardless of destination, more than half feel safer when travelling domestically compared to internationally. Baby Boomers are most likely to feel safe when they travel both domestically and internationally, the study showed.
In the past year, 30 per cent of business travelers have traveled for work to a destination they or their organisation consider to be high-risk. Millennials (37%) are more likely to have traveled to such a destination, compared to Gen-X travelers (27%) or Baby Boomers (25%).
The study alsoasked respondents to rate the safety of 16 specific destinations for business travel ranging from domestic to international and developed to developing:
“We often talk about the resiliency of the business travel industry in the face of terror threats, economic uncertainty, political unrest and other factors,” said Michael W. McCormick, GBTA Executive Director and COO.
“Keeping travelers safe on the road is a prime responsibility for travel professionals. Understanding the road warriors’ fears and anxieties about business travel as well as communicating the available risk protocols and assistance services, can go a long way in building an effective risk management programme.”