Resonating with a growing sense of uncertainty recently, an increasing number of studies have been dedicated to travel risk because risk and tourism are intrinsically connected. However, existing tourism risk literature was criticized for lacking theoretical foundations, which has resulted in fragmented understandings, including contradictory opinions regarding the effect of gender on risk perception. In response to these criticisms, this study systematically investigates tourism risk literature from a gender perspective, with an aim to map out what is known about the gendered travel risk and what needs to be explored further. The review findings suggest that a majority of existing risk and gender studies have prioritized the experience of Western travelers. The findings indicate a lack of a gender-and risk-focused investigation and theoretical framework, and a dearth of an interpretive and reflexive approach. A plethora of evidence of gender difference in tourist risk experience has been identified.

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Since the 9/11 attack in 2001, a number of major tragedies, including the SARS outbreak, the Bali bombings, and the Asian tsunami, have swept the tourism industry across the globe. The impact of these crises was unprecedented and thus, it raises the necessity to review the existing risk literature in tourism. This paper reviews the multi-dimensional concept of risk in tourism by analyzing 46 selected articles following the guidelines of content analysis. The findings are categorized into four broad meaning themes: (1) the concept of risk, safety and security; (2) the research trend of risk in tourism; (3) the definitions and antecedents of perceived risk; and (4) risk as a positive element. Based on the analysis, a framework is proposed for future research. The originality of this study lies in its attempt to conceptualize a comprehensive framework of risk perception in tourism as the existing literature tends to be empirically skewed, resulting in theoretical frameworks underused or applied in a fragmented way.

This study investigates tourists' risk perception towards a risky destination. The eastern coast of Sabah, Malaysia was chosen as the study site for its recent high-risk status as a result of a series of abductions and political turmoil. Using t-test and partial least squares-structural equation modelling analysis, the impacts of travel experience, prior experience with risk, travel motivation, novelty preference, gender, age, and nationality on tourists' risk perception were examined. The results of this study indicate that tourists do perceive Sabah's eastern coast to be high risk but this negative perception of Sabah's eastern coast as a marine destination does not affect their perception of other coastal areas in Malaysia -tourists remain optimistic of other coastal areas within Malaysia. The effects of various determinants on risk perception are reported. The study has provided timely analysis and implications to the tourism industry in Sabah, which can also serve as a reference to destinations with similar risk background.

In response to the emergence of the solo female travel market in Asia, this study explores how Asian women perceive and negotiate the risks of travelling alone and the meanings of these processes. The lived experiences of 35 solo female travellers from 10 East and Southeast Asian countries were analysed using constructivist grounded theory.The findings reveal that Asian solo female travellers were concerned about gendered (e.g. sexual assault and street harassment) and racialised (e.g. discrimination and social disapproval) risks, which imply the unequal power relations underpinning the gendered and racialised tourism space. The findings also reveal evidence where gender intersects with race in amplifying and constructing Asian women's perception of risk. The study demonstrates how Asian solo female travellers gained empowerment and experienced self-transformations through negotiating the risks and further reveals how these individual transformations may extend to social transformations at a micro level in an Asian context.