Touristic Destinations' Risk Perception and Revisit Intention in Sigiriya Area

Abstract

Scholarly attention on the perceived risk in tourism is emerging on the Sri Lankan context after the Easter Sunday Attack in 2019 and during the global outbreak of COVID-19. On the other hand, purchasing tourism products is inherently attached to uncertainties which ultimately lead to risks due to the service nature of the tourism industry. The determination of the risk perception of tourists towards a destination is beneficial for successful management of the destination. Therefore, this research intends to examine the impact of touristic destinations' risk perception on revisit intention of the tourists visiting Sigiriya; one of the most visited tourists destinations in Sri Lanka. The statistical population of the study consists of both domestic and inbound tourists who visited Sigiriya and sample of 100 visitors were selected conveniently during the months of February and March 2020. Correlation and regression analyses were used to analyze the data using SPSS software. The results revealed that four perceived risk dimensions; time risk, physical risks, financial risks and performance risk have a negative impact on revisit intention of tourists while physical risk contributes the highest in determining revisitation intention. It was further revealed that the socio- psychological risk does not have a significant impact on revisit intention to Sigiriya. The study produced some recommendations and implications for tourism destination managers and marketers. Accordingly, minimizing the perceived risk through; ensuring the food and beverage safety, empowering the relevant authorities to avoid stealing and snatching in the area, improving the effectiveness of the ticket issuing officers, establishing price standards for entrance tickets, improving the quality of public transport services, reducing traffic congestion, managing the tourism carrying capacity of the destination, conducting awareness programs and training programs for tourism service providers in the destination are highly recommended to increase the quality of the tourism services.