Pirates make Kiwi travellers’ list of new dangers

24 June 2009
News Release

Pirates make Kiwi travellers’ list of new worldwide dangers

Infectious diseases, airline crashes and even pirates are among the factors that make the world a more dangerous place in the eyes of Kiwi travellers, according to a new survey from Southern Cross Travel Insurance.

Two thirds of New Zealand travellers now view the world as more dangerous than when they first went abroad. Twenty two per cent of respondents considered the world “much” more dangerous with a further 43% saying it is “a bit” more dangerous. Only 4% felt the world had become a less dangerous place.

Southern Cross Travel Insurance Chief Executive, Craig Morrison, says the two biggest reasons given by respondents were the perceived threat of terrorism (79%) and crime levels (58%).

“Infectious diseases made the top five with 25%, even though most of the fieldwork for the survey took place before Swine Flu hit the headlines,” says Mr Morrison. “Media coverage of cargo and passenger ships being attacked off the African coast saw 11% of respondents giving piracy as a reason why the world’s now a more dangerous place."

Drugs (29%), War (28%), and Airline safety records (18%) also featured.

Mr Morrison says it is very unlikely that New Zealand leisure travellers would be directly affected by terrorism, war and piracy because most of us travel to parts of the world where these events are rare. “Crime Levels and Infectious Diseases are the more likely factors to affect travelling Kiwis and this is borne out by a reasonably regular flow of travel insurance claims."

Despite the heightened level of fears among travellers, the proportion of people travelling overseas without insurance had gone up over the five years of the Southern Cross survey, rising from 27% to 33%.

“The irony of that statistic is that travel insurance is now significantly cheaper than it was five years ago. It tends to be the bullet-proof, twenty-something travellers who push that statistic up,” says Mr Morrison.

Reasons why Kiwis believe the world is now more dangerous:

Terrorism 79%
Crime levels 58%
Drugs 29%
War 28%
Infectious diseases 25%
Airline safety 18%
Increased border security 16%
More cars on the road 13%
Food safety 11%
Pirates 11%
Climate change 7%

Survey of 651 travellers, conducted by TNS Conversa, April 2009.

ENDS

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