Aussie travelers brush off safety fears

While almost a third of savvy business travellers in the Asian Pacific region have a fear of flying,  a new survey has found Aussie corporates are the least concerned. Possibly because of Qantas' and Virgin Australia’s fatality-free safety record in the jet era, only 19 percent of Australian executives told the Carlson Wagonlit Travel Connected Traveller Survey  they were afraid of flying. See AirlineRatings.com unique airline safety tool:  Singaporean executives, at 41 percent, and Chinese, at 37 percent, top the list in the Asia Pacific region (APAC) as having the greatest fears of getting on an aircraft. Globally, up to 70 percent of all travellers - corporate and leisure - have some fear of flying that ranges from mild concerns to a serious condition for about 30 percent of flyers. And the Aussie business community is not letting terrorism keep them awake at nights either, according to Koby Brice, Senior Director Asia Pacific at Carlson Wagonlit Travel. “In the CWT survey of all APAC countries, Australian business travellers were by far the least concerned about safety and security,'' Brice said. “While the region was at 56 percent for being concerned or very concerned, 24 percent of Australian’s were not at all concerned about personal safety and only 25 percent were either concerned (16 percent) or very concerned (9 percent)." That lack of concern is reflected in Australia’s preparedness for problems, Ms Brice said. “Less than 40 percent of Australian business travellers maintain up-to-date emergency contact profiles and nearly 40 percent have no security protocols in place." However, when it comes to forgetting something they need, or the weather, the concern levels rise amongst Australian corporates to 32 percent for both categories. The most nervous of all travel executives in the APAC region are the Singaporeans. In the seven categories surveyed between 33 percent to 59 percent of respondents expressed concerns. More than a quarter are very concerned about personal safety during travel while half are somewhat concerned. Singaporeans were the only travellers in the region to say terrorist attacks were highest on their list of personal safety concerns at 59 percent. “More than half also report they are worried are about being robbed during a business trip,” said Ms Brice. Those fears lead more than half of Singaporean travellers to receiving real-time risk notifications, while almost 40 percent report using travel concierge services to alleviate personal safety concerns. The Chinese responses are similar. Interestingly, for Japanese executives, there was a very high concern – 62 percent - for forgetting something related to work.