The slowing of the Singapore economy in 2015 did not reduce the number of travellers from the island republic holidaying overseas, revealed a survey by Chubb Travel Insurance.
The survey on travel leisure trends in Singapore was conducted from November to December last year with participation from 1,998 Singapore travellers. Their responses unveiled these trends (infographic below):
- Avid travellers: 79% of Singapore respondents travelled twice a year or more, across all ages and gender. They continued to go for holidays despite the slowing economy during the last quarter of 2015. Although this was a mere 2% drop from a similar survey done in 2014, it reinforced Singapore travellers’ zest for travel. The additional public holiday from the SG50 celebration also had a part to play.
- Travel hardships: 80% of the respondents had experienced a travel mishap, up from 75% in 2014. Flight delays continued to occupy the top spot, following by falling ill and trip postponement or cancellation.
- Travel fears: The survey respondents also indicated that theft (52%) was their top travel worry, followed by being injured in an accident (44%) and then loss or delay of luggage (43%). Younger respondents (less than 30 years old) tend to be more worried about travel inconvenience such as theft and loss or delay of luggage than their older counterparts. In contrast the main worry of the latter, age 40 years and above, were about suffering an injury and falling ill. This is a similar finding in the 2014’s survey results.
- Booking online: 88% of the respondents would frequently book their leisure trips online, while 72% would purchase their travel insurance online.
- Regret travelling without insurance: 30% of the survey respondents have travelled without insurance but wish they hadn’t. This is an increase from 23% last year.
Greg Dodds, country president of Chubb Insurance Singapore Limited, found “disturbing” that nearly 30% of the survey respondents have travelled without insurance, but wish they had not.
“We delved further and found that half of them travelled thrice or more in a year, incurring a higher exposure to travel mishaps without the safety net provided by travel insurance. The findings reinforce our push to educate consumers on the benefits of travel insurance, and also provide useful tips to help our customers travel smarter and be better prepared for their trips,” he added.
