Abstract:This study explored relationships between selected factors and several key stages of the international vacation tourism decision-making process. A theoretical framework of vacation decisions involving terrorism risk served as the foundation for the analysis. Eight independent variables were examined, including international travel experience, risk perception level, international travel attitude, age, gender, education, income and presence of children in household. Dependent variables were three key stages of the decision-making process, including the general decision to travel internationally versus domestically, the extent of information search and concern for safety in evaluating destination alternatives. A mail survey of international tourists achieved a 48% response rate. Non-response bias was tested with telephone interviews. Data were analyzed using multiple and simple regression. International attitude, risk perception level and income were found to directly influence international vacation destination choice. Touristic experience and education were indirect influences.

This study examined the influences of past international travel experience, types of risk associated with international travel, and the overall degree of safety felt during international travel on individuals' likelihood of travel to various geographic regions on their next international vacation trip or avoidance of those regions due to perceived risk. Information integration theory and protection motivation theory served as the theoretical framework for the study. A mail survey sent to 500 international travelers achieved a 48% response rate. Nonresponse bias was tested with telephone interviews. Data were analyzed using cross tabulations and logistic regression. Results revealed that past travel experience to specific regions both increases the intention to travel there again and decreases the intention to avoid areas, particularly risky areas. Perceived risks and safety were both found to be stronger predictors of avoiding regions than of planning to visit them. Article: Why travelers avoid certain destinations is as relevant to the study of tourist decision making as why they choose to travel to others. Perceptions of risk and safety and travel experience are likely to influence travel decisions; efforts to predict future travel behavior can benefit from studies of tourist decision making, risk perceptions, and the influence of past travel experience. Most tourist decision-making studies have echoed consumer decision-making research, focusing on the analysis of choice sets and decision modeling (Ankomah,

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The purpose of this investigation was to examine the psychometric properties of a place-attachment scale using data collected from visitors to the Appalachian Trail in the United States. These data supported a correlated three-factor model consisting of place identity, place dependence, and social bonding. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was used to cross-validate the model using two subsamples of the data. Latent factor means were also compared. Although these analyses provided mixed evidence indicating the scale to be a valid and reliable measure of place attachment, there remains some concern about the performance of several indicators (i.e., low factor loadings, low reliability). Latent mean differences were also observed between the two groups on the place identity dimension. The analyses presented in this investigation provide an example of the utility of covariance structure analysis for testing the psychometric properties of scales and for comparing latent mean differences among groups within populations.

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