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