Security is holidaymakers' main
consideration when choosing a destination, a research report
released on Wednesday by Bournemouth University and travel
search site Travelzoo said.
"Since Tunisia happened, safety and security has moved
higher and higher up the agenda," Travelzoo's European President
Richard Singer told Reuters, adding that security was now
travellers' number one concern.
A British coroner last week criticised the security
arrangements of a Tunisian hotel where 38 tourists were killed
by a militant in 2015.
The study said it had found that "97 percent of all
respondents have personal safety at the forefront of their minds
when choosing a holiday destination, and that the majority feel
significantly more concerned now than they did in 2014".
"Two years ago, the most important things to do with
choosing a holiday probably revolved around price or sunshine.
But now, it's just safety and security," Singer said, adding
that travel advice needed to be easier to understand.
Some of the families of victims of the Tunisia attack said
that they would have changed their plans if they had been aware
of warnings about travel to Tunisia.
Wednesday's report recommended a "pass/fail" security
accreditation for hotels and landmarks, although Singer said its
exact form was up to the industry to decide.
Travelzoo's survey of 6,000 consumers in China, the United
States, Germany, Britain, France, Russia, India and South
Africa, is due to be presented at a travel conference in Berlin.