NATIONAL REPORT—A recent women’s travel safety survey revealed that 45% of female travelers feel less safe or much less safe about traveling than they did five years ago. Results of the travel trends survey, commissioned by AIG Travel, also show that safety is top of mind for women while they are evaluating potential destinations as well as during their travels.
Further analysis of the data indicates an opportunity for employers to adopt a bigger role in educating employees about travel safety.
As solo travel rises in popularity, especially among women, increased reports of violence or geopolitical turmoil in some regions may heighten awareness of individual security and impact women’s decisions on where and when to journey. To help minimize risks that women may face when traveling, AIG Travel recently launched a Women’s Travel Safety initiative, which shares advice on how to research travel destinations, become familiar with local laws and customs, and leverage tools in the event of adverse situations, such as kidnappings or other crimes. The initiative is also designed to raise awareness of women’s travel safety through tips shared via social media with the hashtag #WomenWhoTravel.
Other key findings from AIG Travel’s Pulse Poll on Women’s Travel Safety include the following:
- Two-thirds of the respondents are very likely or somewhat likely to travel alone to either a domestic or an international destination in 2018. The majority (63%) of women think about safety always or frequently while traveling.
- The top four risks that women consider before or during a trip center on theft and scams, such as pickpocketing/purse snatching (93%), credit card fraud (86%), identity theft (63%), and taxi scams (62%).
- The top two actions that women take with a goal of increasing their personal safety before or during a trip are sharing an itinerary with a friend or family member (93%) and purchasing travel insurance, emergency travel medical coverage, and/or emergency travel evacuation coverage (87%).
- The safety of a destination is a woman’s most important consideration—other than her own personal interest in the destination—when booking travel. If feeling unsafe while traveling, women are most likely to reach out to their hotel staff (36%) or law enforcement authorities (33%) for help.
- Of the respondents who routinely travel for business, 84% reported that their employers either did not provide travel safety tips/resources or that they weren’t aware of any such tools.
AIG Travel distributed the Pulse Poll to female consumers who identify as interested in travel, including followers of the brand’s social media channels and women on its U.S. direct marketing email list. The survey garnered more than 1,800 responses.