Abstract

Anxiety of becoming a criminal victim not only influences the willingness to visit, but also harms the development of local tourism industry.  In order to understand the psychological reaction to fears of crime from tourists and discuss the relevant factors, this study examined survey data of 156 international tourists during their visit to India in January 2010. It is discovered that harassment, fraud and larceny are crimes that tourists experience the most. Female and Asian tourists took various defense reactions more than male and European tourists. In comparison to business tourists, sightseeing tourists perceive more likely to become victims in India. In addition, different victim experiences in India tend to affect different kinds of victim risk perception. Regression analysis verified that there is a negative relationship between perception of travel victim risk and visiting decision. Moreover, travel risk awareness and travel information have interactive effects on perceptions of victim risk and visiting decision.

Key words: Tourism crime, perception of victim risk, risk awareness, travel information, visiting decision.