Travel survey shows fear of terror

Travel survey shows fear of terror

Fear of terrorism and violence has increased significantly amid a widening gap between Islamic and non-Muslim countries, a global travel survey showed on Saturday.

A total of 264 travel specialists from the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) took part in the global survey, aimed at determining major travel concerns, said the director of the association's strategic intelligence, John Koldowski.

"Travel industry operators in Asia Pacific have spoken. They are concerned about a range of social, economic and political issues," he said.

A total of 52.7 per cent of respondents felt that terrorism and violence in the world had greatly increased in recent times, while more than 52 percent agreed that there was also a growing divide between the Muslim and non-Muslim, PATA said in a statement.

Some 68.2 percent of respondents hailed the advent of low cost carriers as a positive development for the travel industry.

The findings of the survey were revealed in Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur a day after delegates kicked off a meeting to map out the future of the tourism industry in Asia Pacific in light of global terrorism issues as well as the deadly bird flu virus. -- DPA