The effects of media displays regarding terrorist attacks on attitudes concerning tourist destination planning

Abstract

Designing and presenting a destination as a tourist product is a process, which is influenced by different issues. Among them are perceptions of destination and attitudes towards a destination. In this study we have examined how media representation of destination safety and security affects attitudes about tourism destinations. Safety and security are important questions in the field of tourism and therefore we initially present differing aspects of this topic. This research question was addressed as an experiment among students of tourism, who are future tourism product designers. The independent variable was the projection of terrorist attack films on observed destinations. The experiment used different questionnaires-among them was a nonverbal semantic differential. The results of these questionnaires showed that the perception of different destinations is lower than before the experiment and therefore that the safety and security issues are important factors when designing a tourist product.