Factors Influencing Foreign Visitors Perceptions And Intention To Revisit Palestine : The Case Of Bethlehem And Ramallah
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Date
2011-06
Authors
Suleiman, Ja'far Subhi Hardan
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
The tourism industry is an important support for future economic growth in Palestine. It has major sacred sites for three main religions Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Bethlehem district has most religious and heritage places that attract numerous international visitors and also Ramallah city. Destination characteristics including political instability and perceived risk, destination image and revisit intention are essential factors in understanding tourism performance and the success of a country’s tourism industry. The objective of this study was to investigate international visitors’ perception in terms of destination characteristics including political instability, perceived risk and likelihood of revisiting Palestine in general and to Bethlehem and Ramallah cities specifically. The influence of demographic characteristics of tourists including nationality, gender, age and travel experiences (number of visit and length of stay) was also examined along with the relationship between dependent variables. Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), Information Integration Theory (IIT), and Tourism Product Characteristics Including Political Instability employed as the theoretical base for this study. A theoretical framework of this study was constructed based on tourist characteristics, tourists’ destination characteristics, perceived risks and likelihood of revisiting.
The study conducted a survey to collect data from 293 international visitors, eight years after the second Palestinian uprising “Intifada” began. The questionnaire was translated into three major languages (i.e., English, Arabic, and Russian) by professional translators. In July 2008, a pilot study was conducted on 28 international tourists in Bethlehem and Ramallah to establish the validity, reliability, and comprehensiveness of the research instrument. After the pilot study, data were collected from July until the end of August 2008. Five hundred questionnaires were distributed in Bethlehem and Ramallah, but only 293 questionnaires were finally used in this study. The questionnaires were randomly distributed to participants in the most attractive sites in Bethlehem and Ramallah cities. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, factor analysis, One-Way ANOVA and multiple regression analysis.
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Keywords
Factors influencing foreign visitors perceptions , and intention to revisit palestine