Thomko Petro Chemical Blog

Tighter security at airports make Americans less inclined to travel because of the perception of the ongoing threat of terrorism and increased inconvenience, according to a new survey by Synovate.

The survey included 1,481 travelers around the world who have traveled by plane in the past year to get their thoughts on the existing air travel security restrictions and the threat of terrorism.

Regardless of tighter security measures in place at many airports around the world, almost half of travelers surveyed across all markets believe that a terrorist act will take place on an aircraft sometime in the near future.

This feeling was strongest in the U.K. (67%) and in the U.S. (56%).

Though travelers indicate strong concern about terrorism, the additional security measures, rather than ease their concerns, have had the opposite effect of making them less inclined to travel.

At least 22% of American travelers said that tighter security restrictions will deter them from traveling internationally.

Surprisingly, only 15% of respondents in the U.K., which typically has very stringent security requirements and was the center of a thwarted terror plot in August, indicated that tighter security would deter their international travel, showing that it's mostly business as usual for them.

And 19% of American air travelers also said that additional security requirements would deter them from traveling by plane for leisure, and 9% indicated that they were less likely to travel by plane for business.

Despite ongoing concerns about terrorism and the inconvenience of the security restrictions at many airports, most of the world's travelers, except for Americans, still think flying is an attractive means of transportation.

Half of the Americans surveyed indicated that flying is less appealing than it used to be but only one-third of respondents across the globe feel this way.

And 31% of travelers surveyed in all markets indicated that the "no-liquids on board" requirement was "just too much to ask."

Source: Modern Agent