Tourists' risk handling behaviors towards terror and perspectives on travel warnings

In recent years, concerns towards terror have become a problem for many countries on a global scale. The attacks threatening the safety of individuals, which is one of the most fundamental needs, have caused a lot of negative outcomes in terms of politics, economics, psychology, and sociology and still continue to cause these outcomes. Many tourist generating countries, particularly the developed countries, issue travel warnings in order to provide security for their citizens and to give information about current situations of the countries they would visit. Turkey is among the countries exposed to the aforementioned serious travel warnings by other developed countries due to the recent terror attacks in the country. The perceptions of tourists towards terror and terror-related travel warnings are influenced by various factors. In line with these factors, some tourists are liable to the risk aversion while some tend to travel despite the risks. The behaviors adopted by tourists against the risks and cognitive processes that have an impact on these behaviors constitute the very focus of this research. The purpose of this research is to reveal the risk handling behaviors of tourists by determining their risk perceptions towards terror and to specify their perspectives on terror-related travel warnings. For this purpose, a qualitative research method was adopted since it is thought to be more convenient for understanding tourists' behaviors and perceptions. Data were collected from foreign tourists who had different nationalities and belonged to different typologies in five different destinations and in three different times in order to reveal different opinions and perspectives and accordingly to enrichen the depth, content and the quality of the data. In-depth interviews and scenario techniques were used to collect data. The obtained data were analyzed with qualitative content analysis. The findings were interpreted with a basis on theoretical knowledge and the literature and presented with the statements of the participants. As a result of the research, it was determined that both terror and travel warnings had an impact upon risk perception of tourists and thereby upon their travel decisions; that the tourists who had perceived risk of terror exhibited the behaviors of risk reduction and rationalization in order to cope with the risk. It was also concluded that the tourists implemented various informational and travel-related strategies in decreasing the risks of terror and also, they appealed to some external, internal or personal ways. It was deduced that the tourists followed travel warnings; and they decided according to the level of risks and warnings such as continuing the travel, canceling the travel plan, postponing the travel or substituting the destination which would be traveled with a destination that was perceived more safe and secure. This research holds importance as it contributes to the theory and literature (a) by adopting a different perspective through the social and psychological investigation of the effects of terror on tourism in terms of risk perception and (b) by revealing the tourists' opinions about travel warnings which have great impacts through official institutions, traditional media, and other channels, specifically social media. This research is also significant as it presents suggestions for crisis communication to decision makers and businesses operating in the field of destination management for the prevention of negative image in a crisis caused by risk perception and travel warnings.