Open AccessThe Impact of COVID-19 on Travelers’ Travel Behavior
Author(s) -
Ayşe Baş Collins,
Valentina Della Cort,
Giovanna Del Gaudio,
Chian Cobanoglu,
Anna Crisci
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of business and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1833-8119
pISSN - 1833-3850
DOI - 10.5539/ijbm.v17n2p1
Subject(s) - pandemic , tourism , destinations , covid-19 , psychological intervention , travel behavior , crisis management , intervention (counseling) , marketing , business , psychology , data collection , geography , public relations , political science , sociology , medicine , engineering , transport engineering , social science , disease , archaeology , pathology , psychiatry , law , infectious disease (medical specialty)
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of a global pandemic, Coronavirus (COVID-19), on travel behavior by integrating crisis management with other behavior variables. Online surveys via the Amazon Mechanical Turk website were used for data collection. A total of 1978 responses were collected from 19 countries (September, 2020); 1607 valid cases were undertaken for the data analysis. The results suggest that crisis management intervention was the most influential factor impacting travel behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. Non-pharmaceutical interventions followed as the second most influencing predictor. . Personal traits were the only variable that recorded a negative relationship with travel behavior. This study has significant practical and theoretical implications since it adopted the extended model of goal-directed behavior while including crisis management intervention, which is a unique approach. Although attitudes generally strongly influence travel behavior, in a pandemic situation, such relationships weaken. In terms of practical implications, it has become apparent that firms and governments should implement integrated risk management and crisis management strategies. Travelers need to be reassured that these tourist destinations have become safe again. This will likely decrease the risk factor, therefore influencing them to travel to this region. This study contributes to understanding how a global pandemic influences travel behavior It will be invaluable in predicting the early reflections of travelers as the pandemic ends.