Terrorism and tourism : the perceptions and decisions of potential Maltese tourists regarding conflict-ridden destinations

Abstract

Despite the wide history of terrorism, little has been researched beyond the basic repercussions of terrorism in relation to tourism. This research attempts to provide further knowledge regarding the effects that the presence of terrorism leaves on potential tourists, taking the Maltese tourists as an example. In doing so, the research attempts to fill a gap on unresearched matters, mainly the perceptions and decisions of Maltese tourists. Moreover the outcomes of this research show that there are several elements of terrorism which affect the decisions of Maltese tourists to travel abroad, foremost among them being: the media, purpose of travel, length of time elapsing following an attack and novelty versus familiarity.