In my many years of travelling, this was a first. It seems that its probably wise to carry camera equipment on with you and keep valuables well insured. My homeowners will cover the cost of replacement. Locking luggage may be a deterrent. If you look at the discussion at photo.net , you'll see lots of discussion on whether it's better to shoot slide or print film.
Most pros shoot slide film.
It's what the industry is set up for, but I think its purely historical in this age of digital prepress. When shooting color, slides give the photographer feedback about the image that can be lost with the print process. Slides have little tolerance for over- or underexposure. You see the result of your choices very directly. Color negatives capture much more information which is then interpreted through the print process.