Despite the spectacular attacks on September 11, 2001 against the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a fourth never-reached target, terrorist attacks do not preoccupy most travellers these days. Another invisible enemy has proven to be more insidious and causes more worry for tourists.
A survey was conducted by Skyscanner among 300 international travelers. Results show travellers will wait longer before entering a country that has experienced an epidemic than a country where terrorist attacks have occurred.
31% of tourists prefer to wait a bit longer before heading to a country that has been hit by a virus compared to 21% who refrain from visiting a destination that has been the victim of a terrorist attack in the last 3 months. In the case of urban violence, 20% of travellers admit that it is the main reason for their fear of visiting a particular country, while a natural disaster repels 17% of travellers surveyed.
Regarding the length of time that a tourist wants to wait before travelling to an affected country, the waiting time is 12 months in the case of an outbreak and only three months in the case of a terrorist attack.