Nearly a year after the events of Sept. 11, a new phone study of
Americans commissioned by Travelocity indicated that the public’s
appetite for out-of-town travel remains strong. While 25% of those
surveyed said they avoided travel immediately after Sept. 11,
nearly 90% have taken a trip since then.
In addition, ongoing concerns related to personal safety and
security, though prevalent immediately following Sept. 11, have
significantly diminished. While 14.4% of those surveyed cited
“concerns for their personal safety” as the reason for avoiding
travel immediately after Sept. 11, only 2.6% still feel that
way.
At the same time, 78.6% of respondents believe the level of
safety when traveling is about the same or better than it was
immediately following Sept. 11.
The poll, a random phone survey of 1,000 respondents
independently conducted for Travelocity by Telenation, was
completed in early August. Complete survey results broken out
demographically by region, gender and households with children can
be found at www.travelocity.com/septem ber11poll.
“While the airline business is down from a year ago, what we’re
now seeing in the industry reflects more upon the current state of
the economy and cutbacks in business travel spending rather than a
fear of flying,” said Sam Gilliland, president and chief executive
officer of Travelocity.
By the Numbers
Other survey results include:
" Most travelers were unaffected by Sept. 11 events or have
returned to earlier levels of comfort when flying.
" 44% were unaffected.
" 27.9% were nervous at first but now feel the same as
before.
" 15.7% are still very nervous about flying, though they
continue to do so.
" 4.1% are still too afraid to fly.
" 3.8% are more determined than ever to fly.
" Respondents from the West most likely avoided travel right
after Sept. 11 because of concerns for personal safety.
" Those from the Northeast and Midwest avoided travel during the
same time period due to the unpredictability of flight
schedules.
" Overall, government-issued security alerts have not played a
major role in consumers’ travel-related decisions. In the
Northeast, 63.1% were not affected, 61.7% were not affected in the
West, and 58.3% were not affected in the Midwest.
