Abstract
The current study examines how exposure to terrorism and past foreign travel experiences influence
attitudes and perceptions regarding travel to risky destinations. Specifically, it examines the impact of
these attitudes and risk perceptions on Israeli students' intentions to travel to four destinations: Egypt,
Turkey, Japan and India. According to the model tested by the study, an individual's risk perceptions
mediate how past travel experience and exposure to terror affect intention to travel to various
destinations. The results show that a greater number of previous trips abroad and past exposure to
terrorism (with no adverse personal consequences) tend to diminish perceptions of travel risk and
positively affect attitudes toward travel to risky destinations. In addition, intentions to travel to risky
destinations rise as perceived risks decrease and as attitudes toward travel to risky destinations
become more positive. Moreover, Israelis are less likely to travel to adversary countries (such as
Turkey or Egypt) than to other countries (such as Japan or India). This research shows that prior
experience with foreign travel and exposure to harsh experiences (such as terrorist acts) with no
adverse personal consequences mitigate risk perceptions, which in turn positively affect intention to
travel to destinations with various types of risks. Experiences with local conflicts diminish Israelis'
intentions to travel to adversary countries.
Citation
ID:
73926
Ref Key:
teitlerregev2015decisionafrican