The impact of terrorism on Maltese outbound tourism

Abstract

The tourism industry is one that has boomed significantly throughout the last few years, contributing a substantial amount to the economies of numerous countries around the world. However, the researcher noted that various countries experience a decline in demand for tourism after a terrorist attack is encountered. Therefore, this research sets out to determine whether Maltese people are impacted by acts of terror when deciding which country to travel to. In order to achieve such information, the researcher conducted both secondary research through various sources, as well as primary research through questionnaires submitted to Maltese staff and students at the University of Malta, which gathered a total of 220 responses from Maltese participants. The responses were then analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25 software, as well as the Kruskal Wallis H test. Through such research, it was evident that terrorism does have an impact on Maltese outbound tourism since various participants stated that there are countries that they would not travel to due to the perceived risk they possess. Besides this, the main findings include that; terrorism has a greater impact on females when travelling compared to males, the majority of participants believe that terrorism is increasing, and most people would still travel to a place that has encountered terrorism in the past. This research study also highlights the various opinions of different Maltese people when it comes to the decision-making process they go through when deciding on a destination to travel to, and how terrorism may impact said process. Through the research conducted the researcher was able to conclude that many Maltese people are cautious about travelling to countries they perceive as high risk.