Studying the Antecedents of Perceived Risks of Foreign Tourists Visiting Egypt and its Impact on Information Search

The aim of this study is to study the Antecedents of perceived risks of tourists coming to Egypt and how they affect their behavior in searching for information before deciding to travel to Egypt. Researches related to antecedents of perceived risks in tourism literature was reviewed. This research focuses on knowledge aspects of tourists, because it is related to information search process, which represented in previous experiences in international travel, previous visits to Egyptian destination, personal knowledge and objective knowledge. Effects of perceived risks as a mediator between these antecedents and information search was examined. The data were collected using survey lists of 520 tourists who visited Egypt at least once during their stay in Egypt. Using the SEM, the results found that while objective knowledge did not significantly reduce or increase the risks associated with travel to Egypt, personal knowledge had the strongest effect on perceived risks. The results also indicate that while different dimensions of perceived risks affect the use of different sources of information, previous knowledge also plays a role alongside perceived risks in identifying the sources of information used.