Tourism development in a difficult environment: A study of consumer attitudes, travel risk perceptions and the termination of demand

The tourism system is complex and tends to be adaptive to internal and external events, such that its development is subject to a myriad of forces, some planned some not, that can result in significant deviations from a desired development path. The events that can lead to a termination of demand are many and may be economic, environmental, health-related or political, with access eased or restricted, or the safety of tourists thrown into question. This paper presents the findings of research into the travel risk perceptions and attitudes of a sample of UK residents when considering travel to a group of selected countries in and around the Middle East region. The UK accounted for approximately 4.5 million arrivals per year in these countries during the period 2007 to 2009. The results are based on a sample of 394 respondents to a UK survey which ran from October 2010 to April 2011.