The impact of the perception of risk on international travellers

Abstract The primary objective of this paper is twofold: (i) to investigate the impact of perceived risk on the tendency to travel internationally; and (ii) to explore if there is any difference in the perception of risky places among three clusters segmented based on the Hofstede's uncertainty avoidance index. The sample population of the study consists of 1180 international travellers visiting Hong Kong in the fall of 2003. The research findings show that the majority of travellers are more likely to change their travel plans to a destination that has elevated risk while the minority reports they are more unlikely. These findings suggest that international travellers appear to be sensitive towards the…