Current world events affect international travel plans reveals Ipsos poll

Turkey, Israel, South Korea and Saudi Arabia and Russia are most likely to suffer as a tourist destination due to recent world events, according to an online Ipsos Poll. The poll, which was conducted online in 25 countries worldwide, reached 18 000 respondents during the months of April and May 2017.

The poll investigates the impact of being aware of the various events going on worldwide and how this affects global travel plans. For every one of the 30 destination countries evaluated, global consumers (average of the 25 countries surveyed) who say they are less likely to travel there because of recent events outnumber those who are more likely to do so.

Amongst online South Africans, almost one in four (39%) say that they are now less likely to travel internationally due to recent events. The countries that South Africans are now less likely to visit include:

South America has been experiencing political and economic uncertainty as well as widespread violence which is likely the reason for the reluctance to travel there” states Mari Harris, South African head of Ipsos Public Affairs.

Although the US and UK are certainly not without their own drama, they are amongst the least affected travel destinations for online South Africans. Globally, The U.S. fares relatively better than most of the other destination countries evaluated in the study and almost a third of South Africans are less likely to visit the States, which is below the global average of 36%.

Globally, destinations with the least negative net impact among global consumers are: Canada, Italy, Australia, Spain, Sweden and Germany.

Recent events have the least impact on travel plans to the following destinations, according to online South Africans:

Those with the least negative net impact among global consumers are: Canada, Italy, Australia, Spain, Sweden, and Germany.

Technical Detail

• The data reported was collected in 25 countries via the Ipsos Online Panel system. The countries reporting herein are: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Great Britain, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States of America.
• For the results of the survey presented herein, an international sample of 18,050 adults aged 18-64 in the US and Canada, and age 16-64 in all other countries, were interviewed. Approximately 1000+ individuals participated on a country by country basis via the Ipsos Online Panel except for Argentina, Belgium, Hungary, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden and Turkey, where each have a sample approximately 500+. The precision of Ipsos online polls are calculated using a credibility interval with a poll of 1,000 accurate to +/- 3.1 percentage points and of 500 accurate to +/- 4.5 percentage points. For more information on the Ipsos use of credibility intervals, please visit the Ipsos website.
• 16 of the 25 countries surveyed online generate nationally representative samples in their countries (Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Poland, Serbia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and United States).
• Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey produce a national sample that is more urban and educated, and with higher incomes than their fellow citizens. We refer to these respondents as “Upper Deck Consumer Citizens”.  They are not nationally representative of their country.

 

Question: Have recent events you have seen or read in the news made you more likely or less likely to travel to the following countries? *

• Much more likely
• Somewhat more likely
• Neither more nor less likely
• Somewhat less likely
• Much less likely

* Each respondent asked about the United States + 9 other countries randomly selected among the other G@ countries, excluding their own (as well as Israel in Saudi Arabia).

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