Tourism Analysis, Vol. 14, pp. 793–807 1083-5423/10 $60.00 + .00 Printed in the USA. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.3727/108354210X12645141401269 Copyright  2010 Cognizant Comm. Corp. www.cognizantcommunication.com THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER ON TRAVEL RISK PERCEPTIONS, SAFETY, AND TRAVEL INTENTIONS YVETTE REISINGER* and JOHN C. CROTTS† *School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Fox School of Business and Management, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA †Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, School of Business and Economics, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA This study replicates and extends the work of Reisinger and Mavondo, who explored the influence of national culture on travel risk and safety perceptions, anxiety, and travel intentions. The current study differs in that it adds gender as a key explanatory variable alone and in combination with national culture to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the influences on risk percep- tions and future travel intent. Respondents (290 females and 239 males) from different nationalities (Asia, Australia, Europe, UK, US) were surveyed as to their cultural orientations, travel risk and safety perceptions, anxieties, and future intentions to travel. Female respondents perceived travel- ing internationally as involved higher risk, were more anxious, felt less safe, and intended to travel less internationally than male respondents regardless of their cultural orientation. However, in the male sample the long-/short-term cultural orientations of respondents were the most significant predictors of travel risk and safety perceptions. In both groups, terrorism and sociocultural risk emerged as the most significant determinants of travel anxieties and perceptions of safety. In the female group, intentions to travel internationally again were determined by anxiety, whereas in the male group they were determined by perceived safety. Implications of the study results are discussed. Key words: Gender; Safety perceptions; Risk perceptions; Travel intentions Introduction rorist threats, health concerns, natural disasters, and other transnational conditions that pose threats to travelers. The lists are long and include both Embassies routinely issue travel advisories and travel warnings to their citizens, asking them to developed and underdeveloped countries in the world. Given that the need for safety is an intrinsic heighten their vigilance while traveling and even avoid travel to certain countries. They also issue need of all individuals (Maslow, 1954), the net ef- fect of these warnings and the publicized inci- travel alerts to disseminate information about ter- Address correspondence to Yvette Reisinger, School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Fox School of Business and Manage- ment, Temple University, 1810 North 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA. Tel: 215-204-7139; Fax: 215-204-8705; E-mail: yvette.reisinger@temple.edu 793