RPIT Scale: Measuring Risk Perceptions in International Travel

Risks are associated with travel, be it domestic or international. Higher risks are perceived with international travel, as the tourist faces alien cultures, foreign languages, different laws, new cuisines etc. However, it was found that not all of the perceived risks, varied across domestic and international travel. Some perceived risks were much higher for international travel while some perceived risks did not show any change. Based on the way the perceived risks behaved across domestic and international travel, we present a new typology of perceived risks. We have defined the constructs of ‘Risk to Experiencer’, which varies across domestic/international travel and ‘Risk to Experience’, which does not vary, and have developed a scale to measure them. The scale has excellent model fit, composite reliability, convergent & discriminant validity. The scale can be used to measure travel risk perceptions in international travel, helping the travel industry to respond better to risk perceptions with relevant risk reduction strategies.