Many regional business travellers are misjudging security and medical risks, with perceptions skewed by media coverage of major incidents, according to new research commissioned by International SOS.
The study shows that many travellers consider political uncertainties (39%) and infrequent but high-profile terror incidents (43%) when judging the safety of their destinations.
Just 4% think about road safety or the robustness of medical infrastructure, though both factors far more likely to lead travellers to come to harm abroad. Three of the top 10 most dangerous countries for driving are in the Middle East, according to World Health Organization figures – Iran, Iraq and Oman.
Almost half of respondents (46%) rely on media coverage to form their judgements on the safety of a country. Some 19% refer to social media and 17% ask friends and colleagues for advice.
The research was conducted amongst business travellers based in the UAE and travelling in the MENA region. The number of respondents was not mentioned.
Emiratis and expatriate Arabs are generally more confident about their safety when travelling within the region, which reflects International SOS’ own advice that linguistic skills and the ability to blend in with the local population do promote security.
Some 34% feel that having full health insurance cover would make them confident to visit a country. Less than half (45%) cite knowledge of medical infrastructure to deliver any required care as an important factor in helping them decide whether a country was safe.
“Extreme and unusual events distort perceptions of risk,” said Mr Julian Moro, Regional Security Director at International SOS and Control Risks in Dubai. “Whilst these events are devastating, travellers are far more likely to be involved in a traffic accident or suffer a medical emergency that requires specialised care.”
The report also shows that respondents’ perceptions of the risks in some regional countries were dramatically inconsistent with International SOS’ security experts’ assessments of the situation on the ground.
Iran, a country expected to see increasing inbound business travellers, was perceived by over half of all respondents (54%) as a high-security risk destination. In reality, away from the border areas near Afghanistan and Pakistan, Iran is one of the safest countries in the region to visit and has a similar security risk rating to the UAE and most European countries.
A quarter of Westerners (25%) felt that relatively safe Jordan poses a high security risk, with 18% of overall respondents answering that they did not know. One in five respondents (18%) believe that Turkey poses a high security risk, when International SOS experts advise that away from some areas of the south east, it is low risk.