Undeterred by War, Disease Or Terrorism
Americans are planning
more trips overseas this year, despite conflicts and turmoil in
Iraq and North Korea, the Al Qaeda threat, cancellations of some
international flights and SARS. However, their trust in airport
security is lukewarm. A survey of 400 international travelers in
the US by 1stAir also found that when traveling abroad, Americans
prefer international flag carriers to US carriers.
"Neither terrorism, nor contagious disease nor war are deterring
Americans from flying overseas for business or leisure," said
Robert Laney, president, 1stAir, a provider of first class and
business class international travel at 30-50% fare reductions.
"Given the improvement in the economy, international travel should
have a solid comeback in 2004."
Among the key findings from the survey:
-
Increase in travel overseas for business and pleasure
Nearly half of international travelers surveyed (46.8%) are
traveling overseas for business more than they did at the same time
last year. More than half (65%) are traveling overseas for leisure
more than they did at the same time last year.
-
SARS and Al Qaeda are
ongoing concerns of international flyers
Despite international travel growth, SARS is impacting overseas
plans, cited by nearly half (45.9%) as an event affecting their
decision to travel; the second greatest event affecting travel
overseas is the Al Qaeda threat, cited by 31.3%.
-
Trust in airport security is moderate
While more than half (66%) of those surveyed define their trust
in airport security in the United States as "moderate", only 15.3%
label their trust as "great". There is improvement with the level
of trust in airports overseas - more than one-quarter (26.6%) say
their level of trust in airport security in Great Britain is
"great" while one third (33%) say their level of trust in airport
security in Singapore is "great".
Preference for International Flag Carriers: When traveling
internationally, nearly two-thirds (62.6%) prefer international
flag carriers versus US carriers, and one-quarter (26.6%) say there
are airlines they avoid due to security concerns.
-
Indifference to Cancellation of British Airways and Air France
Flights
Half of those surveyed (54.7%) say the cancellation of some
British Airways and Air France flights have had no impact on their
feeling about air travel security, and 89.2% said the cancellations
have not caused them to delay or rearrange their travel plans.
-
Reduced international fares would increase travel
International flyers surveyed prefer business class to economy
class (54.7% vs. 29.1%) when flying for business and economy class
to business class (52.2% vs. 33%) when flying for leisure. If the
cost for first or business class fares were reduced by 20-30%, an
overwhelming majority (85.2%) said they would fly internationally
more frequently.
1stAir conducted the email survey between 1/00/04 and
1/20/04.