Research Finds Traveler Security Considerations Will Diminish by Summer time

Traveler safety concerns are expected to decrease significantly after spring 2021, if more COVID-19 Vaccines are being distributed and more borders are being reopened, according to an international survey of more than 2,100 members by the leading provider of travel risk and crisis response Global salvation.

The survey found that around three in four respondents (77 percent) are less or less concerned about travel safety in the second half of 2021 (July to December) compared to last year. However, more than half of respondents (54 percent) said they were more or more concerned about travel safety by June compared to 2020.

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According to a study by Global Rescue, a majority of respondents (70 percent) plan to take their next overnight / multi-day trip more than 100 miles from home by June 2021, while one in four will wait until the last six months. A small fraction, only 5 percent, expect to wait until 2022 or later.

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A COVID-19 vaccination (47 percent) and open borders (34 percent) are the two most important conditions that travelers need to feel safe enough in to travel internationally. Potential quarantines (41 percent) and COVID-19 infections (29 percent) remain the top concerns of travelers planning an international trip amid the pandemic. Twelve percent of travelers surveyed currently cited trip cancellation as their greatest fear of international travel.

“Traveler confidence is growing and this is good news for the travel industry,” said Dan Richards, CEO of Global Rescue, in a statement. “Travelers will feel safe enough to plan trips and vacations when they are vaccinated, when borders are open and managed in predictable ways, and when they know that in the worst case scenario, they can get home.”

Almost three-quarters of respondents (73 percent) said they would feel safer traveling if they had a COVID-19 vaccine, compared to just 36 percent who said they would feel safer if they did before a negative COVID-19 PCR test result would have their excursion. “Travelers’ confidence in the effectiveness of a COVID-19 vaccine understandably exceeds that of a negative coronavirus test, as the former prevents it from occurring and the latter only detects when a person has been infected with the virus, added Richards.

When it comes to navigating today’s COVID-19 testing requirements for Select destinationsTravelers are divided on how they would find a testing facility. Tour operators (21 percent), travel consultants (21 percent), target resources (18 percent), personal investigations (16 percent), and insurers (9 percent) are the most important resources, while 15 percent of respondents said they weren’t sure what they would do it.

Interestingly, less than 4 percent of respondents said that receiving negative COVID-19 PCR test results, accessing coronavirus treatments, or purchasing a digital health passport are a prerequisite for feeling safe enough to travel abroad .