Travel Anxiety and Intentions to Travel Internationally: Implications of Travel Risk Perception

TLDR

The study examines how cultural and psychographic factors influence travel risk perception, anxiety, and international travel intentions. Data were collected via surveys of 246 Australians and 336 foreign respondents on cultural orientation, personality, lifestyle, travel motivation, risk and safety perception, anxiety, and travel intentions. Path analysis revealed that travel risk perception depends on cultural orientation and psychographic factors, that anxiety is driven by perceived risk type—with terrorism and sociocultural risk being the strongest predictors—and that international travel intentions are determined by anxiety levels and perceived safety.

Abstract

This article investigates the impact of cultural and psychographic factors on perceptions of travel risk, anxiety, and intentions to travel internationally. The study involved 246 Australian and 336 foreign respondents who were surveyed as to their cultural orientation, personality, lifestyle, travel motivation, risk and safety perception, anxiety, and intentions to travel. The results of a path analysis showed that the travel risk perception was a function of cultural orientation and psychographic factors in both samples, and anxiety was a function of type of perceived risk. The terrorism and sociocultural risk emerged as the most significant predictors of travel anxiety. Intentions to travel internationally were determined by travel anxiety levels and level of perceived safety. Implications for future research and marketing practices are discussed.