Predicting information seeking regarding hurricane evacuation in the destination

The study examined the roles of tourists' risk beliefs, connectedness, hurricane knowledge, and their past experiences with hurricane impacts in relation to their information seeking behavior regarding hurricane evacuation while in the destination. Surveys were collected from tourists who were visiting Florida in September 2011, during the Atlantic hurricane season. Findings from this study reveal and confirm the existence of the critical relationship among tourist information seeking, past experience with hurricanes, individual risk beliefs, and level of knowledge. It is recommended that destination managers make investments in hurricane communication messages, which target a wide array of tourists. The effectiveness of hurricane evacuation information is linked to the receptiveness of the content of the message by differing groups. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.