Perceived Crime and Violence: Effects on Winter Migrants
Published online on December 12, 2013
Abstract
Many travel destinations across the world have endured sporadic or prolonged violence that significantly impacts their respective region’s tourism-reliant economy. This research addresses the issue of violence and travel by examining talk of violence, perceptions of the worsening of crime, fear at the destination, destination satisfaction, and their effects on return intention within the context of travelers who are very familiar with the destination. Study results, obtained from migrants who had spent many winters in the area that borders on a region that had recently erupted in drug-related violence, found the significant effects, direct or indirect, of all variables. Importantly, fear at the destination was found to subsume satisfaction with the destination, which directly impacts intention to return to the destination.