Articles

Articles

1st Article

In this article author discussed the impact of terrorism on consumer choice and tourism decisions has been an area of research concern on demand. However, most of these studies have utilized a times series approach. For instance, (Enders and Sandler, 1991) and (Enders et al., 1992) used monthly data and time series analysis to prove a significant negative impact of terrorism on tourism revenues in Spain and other European countries, and to support substitution effects between countries as a result of the tourists' goal of minimizing the risk of facing a terror attack.

Methodology

Research Design

Two split surveys (pre- and post-September 2001) were conducted following the methodology of discrete choice experiments to study the preferences of tourists for alternative destinations as defined by specific attributes. Three pre-test surveys and two focus groups allowed defining the attributes that are most important in the choice of destination, as well as the specific wording of the questionnaire. The attributes were defined as the price of the package, the beach space available per individual, the services available in the accommodation complex, the types of themeparks entertainments, the average time employed to entertainment and shopping centers from the lodging complex, and the management of the urban environment.

Instrument

The survey work was carried out by personal interviews conducted by a survey firm with specialized and trained interviewers. The potential candidates to be included in the survey were screened by whether they had spent a vacation in the last year in some sun and beach destinations.

Sample

The data were collected in two stages. The first part was conducted in August 2001 and involved 370 personal interviews. The second stage was conducted in September and October 2001, and involved another sample of 373 individuals. The study of both samples allows one to investigate the ...