International Travel, Risks, and New Zealanders: The Role of Travel Agents in Risk Communication

Abstract

Travel involves navigating unfamiliar environments where uncertainty and risks are unavoidable. In tourism research, these risks are commonly considered as health, physical, psychological, social, financial, and political risks, each influencing travellers’ decision-making in different ways. In tourism, travel agents are an important source of information and advice on many aspects of travel planning and holiday decision-making processes. However, limited research has examined how travel agents communicate travel risks, what risk categories they prioritise, and how such communication shapes traveller preparedness in the New Zealand context.

This study aimed to examine how New Zealand travel agencies communicate travel risks to independent outbound leisure tourists and to identify the types of risks emphasised in their communication practices. A qualitative collective case study design was employed, focusing on five New Zealand travel agencies: Helloworld Travel, House of Travel, Flight Centre, Mann Travel, and YOU Travel. Data were collected through document analysis of publicly available materials on the official websites of the five travel agencies, utilising their travel blogs, brochures, magazines, Frequently Asked Questions sections, terms and conditions, and travel insurance documents. The data were analysed using a thematic analysis approach to identify patterns in risk types, communication formats, and risk message framing strategies.

The findings revealed that travel agencies employed three dominant framing strategies in their risk communication practices: action-oriented framing, self-efficacy framing, and culturally sensitive framing. Risk messages were predominantly distributed through travel blogs, brochures, and magazines, travel insurance documents, and in the terms and conditions sections of each travel agency website. Health risks emerged as the most frequently communicated category, followed by physical and financial risks, while social and political risks received comparatively limited attention in the agencies’ risk communication practices.

The study concludes that New Zealand travel agencies employ communication strategies that reduce travellers’ perceived risk and support booking confidence, while simultaneously transferring responsibility for risk management to individual tourists. This approach creates a preparedness gap for independent tourists, particularly regarding social and political risks that cannot be mitigated through individual behaviour alone. The research contributes to the tourism risk-communication literature by providing an integrated analysis of both risk message framing and information distribution strategies, and offers practical recommendations for more balanced traveller-centred risk communication practices in the New Zealand outbound tourism context.