Antalya’s tourist security: A gap analysis of expectations vs perceptions

Abraham Terrah, University of South FloridaFollow
Vivienne Wildes, Bucknell UniversityFollow
Trishna Gajjar Mistry, University of South FloridaFollow

Abstract

The tourism industry strongly contributes to the gross domestic product of many countries. An important aspect of the tourism industry is the security of tourists and its connection to the overall tourism security of a country or tourist location. It is essential to identify vulnerable areas and require security improvements within the tourism industry. This study aims to identify security gaps in the Mediterranean city of Antalya from a tourist perspective. Tourists have been classified in this study as leisure tourists, business tourists, and special event tourists. The research identified expectations and perceptions gaps in the transportation sector, accommodation sector, airports, and public places of Antalya. Data was collected from a sample size of 551 tourists residing in 34 different countries in Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Findings show gaps exist specifically in the levels of security of buses, hotels, airports, shopping malls, restaurants, tourist sites, and beaches of Antalya. The research also assessed the influence of tourists’ purpose of travel and country of residence on their expectations and perceptions of security in Antalya. The study ultimately identified gaps concerning the security of tourists visiting Antalya, and future studies can explore the issues related to these tourism industry’s components in which gaps exist.

Keywords

tourism security, Turkey, transportation, airport, accommodation, public places

Chinese Abstract

安塔利亚的旅游安全：期望与认知的差距分析

旅游业对许多国家的国内生产总值贡献显著。旅游业的一个重要议题是游客的安全, 及其与一个国家或旅游地点的总体旅游安全的联系；因此，确定旅游业内的薄弱环节进而改善其安全状况是非常必要的。本研究旨在从游客的角度出发，找出地中海城市安塔利亚的安全漏洞。本研究将游客分为休闲游客、商务游客和节事游客，确定了他们对安塔利亚在交通、住宿、机场和公共场所等方面安全性的期望和认知差距。研究从居住在欧洲、中亚和中东34个不同国家的游客中共收集551份样本。结果显示，在巴士、酒店、机场、商场、餐厅、旅游景点和海滩等方面，安塔利亚的安全程度与期待之间的差距尤为明显。研究还评估了游客的旅行目的和居住国如何影响对安塔利亚的安全期望与认知。该研究最终确定了安塔利亚在游客安全方面的差距，未来的研究可继续探讨旅游业中这些存在安全差距的要素。

旅游安全，土耳其，交通，机场，住宿，公共场所

DOI

10.5038/2640-6489.5.2.1140

Recommended Citation

Terrah, A., Wildes, V., & Mistry, T. G. (2020). Antalya’s tourist security: A gap analysis of expectations vs perceptions. Journal of Global Business Insights, 5(2), 150-168. https://www.doi.org/10.5038/2640-6489.5.2.1140