FORGET about airport delays or the risk of catching a virus, family priorities and financial obligations are among the main reasons preventing cost-conscious people from travelling this summer, according to a recently conducted opinion poll.
It included a sample of 732 respondents – both citizens and residents – out of which 48 per cent revealed that they have no travel plans this summer, 37pc have plans and 15pc are ‘thinking about it’.
The survey, ‘The Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Travel Decisions during the 2022 Summer’, was conducted by the Bahrain Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies (Derasat) and included the participation of 97pc Bahrainis and 3pc expatriates.
According to the demographic statistics of the survey, the majority of the sample (41pc) were aged from 28 to 37, followed by 23pc aged 38 to 47, 15pc aged 18 to 27, 11pc aged 48 to 57 and 10pc aged 58 and above.
“The opinion poll included 732 respondents – of which 51pc were male and 49pc female – out of which 72pc were married, 19pc were single, 6pc were separated and 3pc widowed,” read the survey’s conclusion.
“According to the sample, 85pc of respondents would travel for recreational purposes during the summer, while 4pc would travel for official work assignments, 2pc for medical purposes, 1pc for academics while 8pc would travel for other reasons.
“The most popular travel destination was determined as Türkiye (34pc), followed by European destinations (24pc), GCC countries (21pc), Arab countries (15pc) followed by 7pc for each Thailand and the UK, 2pc for the United States, 1pc other countries and 8pc undecided.”
As part of the opinion poll, the level of fear from getting infected by Covid-19 during travel was also measured with 26pc of respondents stating they had been infected and no longer feared the virus. However, 28pc revealed they were ‘somewhat fearful’, 25pc didn’t fear the virus while 10pc had ‘no fear at all’ of catching the disease.
Meanwhile, 43pc of respondents stated that they were ‘very careful’ in implementing preventive measures while travelling, 50pc were somewhat careful and 43pc revealed they weren’t ‘too keen on implementing’ preventive measures during their travels.
“Family priorities and financial obligations were attributed as the main reasons preventing travel by 47pc of the respondents, while 23pc cited work commitments, 22pc revealed a fear of infection by Covid-19 and 16pc stated they had no travel plans and 11pc stated they had no desire to travel,” added the final conclusive report.
“Out of those who have stated that financial obligations prevented them from travelling, 47pc stated they earn less than BD500 a month, 34pc earn between BD500 to BD1,000, 9pc earned between BD1,000 and BD1,500, while 7pc earn between BD1,500 and BD2,000 and 3pc earn more than BD2,000.
“Meanwhile, out of those who have stated that a fear of the pandemic prevented them from travelling – 80pc were married, 14pc were single, 5pc were separated while 1pc were widowed.”
The report also revealed that 39pc of the sample worked in the public sector, followed by 30pc in the private sector, 13pc retired, 7pc housewives, 3pc each for entrepreneurs and students and 5pc unemployed.
Meanwhile, 50pc of those married revealed that they would not be travelling during the summer holiday while 51pc of those on their own would take-off.
reem@gdnmedia.bh
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