Vacationing in a Terror-Stricken Destination: Tourists' Risk Perceptions and Rationalizations

This exploratory study examines the destination risk perceptions and risk rationalizations of tourists who, despite governmental travel advisories, cross the border into a region previously and repeatedly targeted by terror attacks. Data were collected from Israeli tourists at the Israeli-Egyptian border in Eilat on their way to the Sinai Desert. A statistical analysis of 489 questionnaires indicated that "terrorism and security" issues constituted only one dimension of tourists' perceived risk among several others. The tourists used numerous means of rationalization to justify their seemingly irrational behavior, such as blaming the media for overexposure of terror risks. Finally, the respondents' risk perceptions were found to be correlated with their political orientation regarding the Israeli-Arab conflict. Further investigations in other areas of conflict, as well as among tourists of different cultures, are recommended.