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This study examined the effect of perceived safety at a potential vacation destination on the reported likelihood of travel to that destination for potential travelers. Data were collected from a sample of college students and analyzed to determine if site choice was influenced by varying levels of perceived safety of the site. According to the results of the study, it appears that destination marketers, travel agencies, and the hospitality industry should be concerned with improving their images when those images are negative with regards to safety, but otherwise are unlikely to greatly alter an individual's likelihood of traveling to that destination by stressing high safety levels. Some marketing and policy strategies are suggested.

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Images of a travel destination affect the choice of someone selecting a visitation site. Potential travelers to the United States perceive personal safety as a major problem, followed by costs and availability of information to foreign visitors. Virginia is cited as having promotional efforts which are effective in overcoming negative images of potential foreign visitors, and suggestions are made to increase the attractiveness of the U.S. as a travel destination.

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors affecting destination choice deasions of college students. The study reports the results of a factor analysis and discusses some marketing implications. Results suggest that college students are mostly concerned with the cost of the vacation and convenience, local hospitality and services, entertainment and drinking opportunities, recreation and sporting activities available, and change in their daily environment. These criteria must be taken into account by destination promoters and developers as they try to appeal to this important segment in the tourism industry.Keywords: Decision-making, pull factors, college students, travel behavior, factor analysis. Ercan Sirakaya Ph.D. obtained his B.S from the Aydin School of Tourism and Hotel Management. Later, he received his MS and %.D. degrees from the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at Clemson University. Currently, he is an assistant professor in the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Recreation Management at The PennsylvaniaState University and teaches both tourism and commercial recreation classes. His main research interests are decision-making, tourism economics, sustainable tourism development (ecotourism), and compliance research. cahgmamn amaa, yiiksekokul ogrencilerinin tatil yeri sepmlerini etkileyen faktorleri tesbit eimektir. Geligtirilen anket, ABDnin giiney do&sunda bulunan bir devlet universitesinin park, rekreasyon ve turizm igletmecili@ boliimiinde okuyan 181 oBenci iizerinde uygulanmlgtir. Uygulama, dersler esnasinda yapildigmdan % 100 geri doniig saglanmighr. Universitenin tiim ogrencilerini temsil edecek wkilde belli siniffar o r n e e dahil ediImi$ir. 3.78 olarak tesbit edilen ortalama seyahat sayLsi, %renderin aktif ve POtansiyel gezginler olduklarini ortaya koymugtur. Tatil yerlerinin sqimini etkileyen ~k i m faktorlerine ilkjkin 56 ozellik belirlenerek thq-noktali likert olqe# ile olqAdenmigtir. Deneklerden her ozelugin onem diizeylerini (1=6nemli degil, 5=qok onemli) belirimeleri istenmhtir. 56 ozellik, faktor analizine tabi tutularak 14 grupta toplanmlgti. 14 gruptan veriye yeterli uyumu saglayan ve toplam varyansin %54.9unu asiklayan 9 grup qekilerek, SPSSX istatistik programinda korelasyon analizine tabil tutulmugtur. Gruplar; (1) yoresel a$rlama olanaklan ve hizmetleri, (2) tatilin rnaliyeti ve kolayh8, (3) tatil yerinde giivenlik (4) giinliik yagamdan kurtulma, (5) sportif faaliyetler ve olaylar, (6) e@enme ve iqne firsatlari, 0 tatil yerine kigisel ve tarihsel ilgi, (8) kiiltiirel olaylar veahgverb olanaklari, ve (9) aligilmadik ve uzak tatil yerleri olarak isimlendirilmigtir. Tatil yeri seGminde cinsiyet ve yag bakimmdan onemli farkliliklar vardir. Bay ve bayanlar arasinda onemli farklillklarin o l d u h ozellikler; (1) giinliik yagamdan kurtulma, (2) eglenme ve iqne firsatlari, (3) kiiltiirel olaylar ve allgverig olanaklari, ve (4) sportif faaliyetler ve olaylardir. Bayanlar, baylara kiyasla kiiltiirel olaylar ve alqveri? olanaklarina daha fazla onem vermektedir...