Open AccessTOURISM IS TOO DANGEROUS! PERCEIVED RISK AND THE SUBJECTIVE SAFETY OF TOURISM ACTIVITY IN THE ERA OF COVID-19
Author(s) -
Tafadzwa Matiza,
Elmarie Slabbert
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
geo journal of tourism and geosites
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.377
H-Index - 12
eISSN - 2065-1198
pISSN - 2065-0817
DOI - 10.30892/gtg.362spl04-686
Subject(s) - tourism , snowball sampling , nexus (standard) , respondent , covid-19 , risk perception , psychology , pandemic , dark tourism , business , marketing , sample (material) , geography , political science , medicine , perception , disease , archaeology , pathology , neuroscience , computer science , infectious disease (medical specialty) , law , embedded system , chemistry , chromatography
The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the risk associated with tourism and induced a paradigm shift in tourist behaviour. The study explores the nexus between COVID-19 induced perceived risk the subjective safety associated with tourism activity. A cross-sectional deductive study was conducted. Data were generated from a respondent-driven snowball sample of 323 potential tourists from all over the world. The key findings indicate perceived physical, psychological and social COVID-19 pandemic induced risk negatively influenced the overall subjective safety associated with tourism activity. Moreover, further analysis indicated heterogeneity in the influence of the perceived risk on specific tourism activity. Tourism practitioners are provided with timely empirical evidence-based insights that contribute to a better understanding of tourists' evolving behaviour.