Before brifters were developed most touring bikes had bar end shifters because that was the only good option to have both hands on the handlebars while you shifted. Otherwise you were using downtube shifters and with a heavily loaded bike and friction shifting, taking one hand off the handlebar to shift could be a hazard. Some urban bikes were sold with stem mounted shifters for a few years but they were never serious contenders for touring.

When brifters were developed, those that started doing touring that had not used brifters would usually start using bar ends. As noted, brifters could be finicky and might not work so well after a while and initially they were quite a bit more expensive than bar end shifters. If you switched to touring from a more upright handlebar, you probably used bar end shifters because that is what was most common on touring bikes.

But, those that started bike touring after they were used to using brifters on expensive road bikes usually wanted brifters on their touring bikes too. And if they could afford a good road bike with brifters, they could afford a touring bike with brifters. A few people that wanted brifters and also handlebar bags would put a V brake noodle on the cable run coming out of the brifter to get the shift cable to take a smooth bend.

So, today, it usually is one or the other, most people pick one or the other based on past preferences.

I started using Shimano bar end shifters back before index shifters were developed, I was one of the rare people that had Shimano instead of Suntour bar end shifters, I won't bother going into the history of pre-index shifter bar end design. I tried a pair of brifters a couple years ago and did not like them, went back to bar end shifters.

You should try both and buy what you prefer.

Lance Armstrong used to race with a downtube shifter for the front shifter and brifter for the rear while others on his team used brifters for both front and rear, so even in the world of high performance racing there is some personal preference involved.

I have no clue why some people feel that brifters are safer. But if that is what they have on other bikes, they probably feel safer if all of their bikes have the same controls.