Perceptions of terror stricken tourism destinations

ABSTRACT

In the wake of global safety and security concerns, it is important to understand and document perceptions held by tourists so as to inform destination recovery efforts post terror attack. This exploratory study employs focus groups to examine American millennials’ perceptions of risk and their intentions to travel to terror-stricken destinations, specifically Nice, France. Perceived risks related to general international travel articulated by participants included, health, theft, and safety concerns. Participants indicated that they were willing to travel to Nice, post terror attack, with the exception of one group that would choose to travel elsewhere in France. Participants’ rank ordering of the sources they would consult during the decision making process for travel to a terror stricken destination included: family, people with lived experience of the destination, and government. This paper contributes to risk perception literature, particularly scholarship on the nexus between terrorism and tourism.

KEYWORDS:

• Risk perceptions
• intentions to visit
• terror stricken destinations

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Laura E. Bacon is a 2016 graduate of ASU’s Barrett, The Honors College. This paper is part of her Honors thesis research.

Dr. Christine N. Buzinde is an associate professor in ASU’s School of Community Resources and Development.