نقش ويژگي هاي جمعيت ‌شناختي در ريسك درك‌شده‌ي گردشگران خارجيِ سفركرده به ايران

THE ROLE OF DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS IN PERCEIVED RISK AMONG INBOUND TOURISTS WHO VISIT IRAN

ريسك درك‌شده تاثير زيادي بر تصميم سفر و انتخاب مقصد مورد نظر گردشگران دارد. در نوشتار حاضر درك گردشگران خارجي از ريسك سفر به اصفهان به‌عنوان يك مقصد گردشگري بررسي شده است. جامعه‌ي آماري اين پژوهش گردشگران خارجي بوده كه در بازه زماني انجام پژوهش ( شهريور و مهرماه سال 1388) از اصفهان ديدن كرده‌اند. حجم نمونه با استفاده از يك مطالعه‌ي مقدماتي 224 برآورد شده است. انتخاب اين نمونه‌ها، از طريق نمونه‌گيري تصادفي در دسترس انجام شده است. نتايج نشان مي‌دهد كه ويژگي هاي فردي گردشگران از قبيل جنسيت، مليت، هدف سفر و داشتن تجربه‌ي قبلي سفر به ايران، ادراك آنها از ميزان ريسك سفر به ايران را تحت تاثير قرار داده است، اما سن تاثيري بر ادراك از ريسك نداشته است. گردشگراني كه براي ديدار دوستان و بستگان خود به ايران سفركرده بودند نسبت به ساير گردشگران ريسك بيشتري را درك مي‌كردند. گردشگران باتجربه در مقايسه با گردشگراني كه براي اولين‌بار از ايران ديدن مي‌كردند، ريسك كم‌تري را از سفر به ايران درك مي‌كردند. زنان نيز در مقايسه با مردان ريسك بيشتري را درك مي‌كردند.

Consumer decisions are usually along with a given level of risk. Involvement of the risk element in consumer decisions is more apparent in service contexts, such as the tourist industry, especially as travel and tourism are kinds of decisions with high involvement. Therefore, a number of risks and uncertainties are associated with travel decisions. Of course, instead of actual risk, it is perceived risk that influences travel decisions and the intended tourist destination choice. Generally, tourists make decisions based on their perceptions rather than actual facts. There are seven risks have been identified with regard to travel and tourism; facility, finances, physical, psychology, satisfaction, social, and time risk. This paper investigates tourist perception of risk whilst visiting Isfahan as a tourist destination. In addition, the role of socio-demographic characteristics, including age, gender, nationality, trip purpose, and previous experience, on perceived risk has been investigated. The statistical population of the study is tourists who have visited Isfahan during the research period; August-October, 2009. 224 tourists were selected randomly. Data analysis was based on one-way ANOVA and Spearman correlation using SPSS. An ANOVA test revealed that that the respondent characteristics, such as nationality, gender, previous experience of traveling to Iran and purpose of visit, influenced the perceptions of risk. The results show that age has no impact on tourist perceptions of risk. Respondents who were visiting friends and relatives were more likely to perceive Isfahan as a high-risk destination than others. Women perceived a greater degree of risk than men. Tourists with previous experience perceived lower degrees of risk than first-timers. The perception of associated physical and social risk varied significantly by tourist nationality. The results also indicate that tourists search different information sources to reduce their perceived risks.