Willingness to Take Travel-Related Health Risks - A Study among Finnish Tourists in Asia during the Avian Influenza Outbreak [Summary]

Younger travelers and those on holidays are willing to take more health risks than those who are older or on business trips. Travel advice during epidemics could be differentially targeted to different age groups and to holiday and business travelers. This study among Finnish tourists who had been in Asia during the avian influenza outbreak showed that the strongest correlates of the willingness to take health risks on holiday and business trips were the same: younger age, perceived higher HIV risk, and higher perceived comparative health risk-taking tendency. The quotes from the answers to the open question showed that holidays inherently have a hedonistic function: people want to relax and they are ready to loosen control while being in unfamiliar circumstances and free from everyday life. The quotes about holidays being planned for and paid out of their own pocket implied that cancellations or changes were not (so easily) an option even if there were health risks. On the other hand, willingness to take health risks on business trips was more clearly related to rational risk evaluation of other risks in life.

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