Travel decision determinants during and after COVID-19: The role of tourist trust, travel constraints, and attitudinal factors

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced tourism practitioners to create efficient strategies to attract travelers. Using three theoretical frameworks, such as tourist trust (political, destination, and interactional trust), travel constraint (intrapersonal, interpersonal, and social distancing structural constraint), and extended theory of planned behavior (travel attitude, perceived behavioral control, subjective norm, perceived health risk, past travel experience), we develop a comprehensive framework to explain the impact of travel promoting, restricting, and attitudinal factors on travel decision during and after the pandemic. Data was obtained through an extensive survey conducted on 1451 Korean travelers and was analyzed using probabilistic choice models and count models. The results show the specific factors that determine travel decisions during the pandemic (whether to travel and frequency) and travel intention after the pandemic. This study provides important theoretical and practical insights into how to develop successful COVID-19 recovery strategies in the tourism industry.

Automated summary

This study explores the impact of various factors on travel decisions during and after the COVID-19 pandemic using three theoretical frameworks. Data collected from a survey of 1451 Korean travelers is analyzed to identify specific factors influencing travel decisions and intentions. The research provides important theoretical and practical insights for developing successful COVID-19 recovery strategies in the tourism industry.