4. Conclusions and implications
The study findings suggest that travellers harbouring animosity towards a holiday destination may be reluctant to make it their holiday of choice. One contribution of the present study rests on the finding that low levels of animosity may have no effect on travellers' willingness to travel but could become more instrumental when a high enough level is reached. Although this offers a glimmer of hope for travel agents, the level of animosity must be measured to ensure it does not impact destination choice. As this research note is exploratory in nature, further research is necessary to shed light on the point at which the impact of animosity is most likely to become salient.
Another contribution of this research note is the light it sheds on a relationship not previously explored, i.e., the relationship between animosity and SVC. Although the study points to a significant relationship between the two variables, the observed relationship is weak. The weak relationship may have resulted from the relatively low animosity harboured by Israeli travellers towards Turkey; hence, further research in which the relationship is observed in a more extreme case of animosity is required. The findings of the present study suggest that even if travellers do opt to travel to a country towards which they harbour animosity, they are likely to become disinclined to learn about its local culture. Hotel managers and travel agents should therefore offer an abundance of leisure activities to meet the needs of travellers who may not wish to come into contact with the local population or learn about its culture, and would thus prefer to stay in their hotels for most of or perhaps the entire duration of their holiday. Offering international rather than local entertainment is also highly recommended.
