The Post-Coronavirus World in the International Tourism Industry: Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior to Safer Destination Choices in the Case of US Outbound Tourism

Heesup Han, Amr Al-Ansi, Bee-Lia Chua, Beenish Tariq, Aleksandar Radic and Su-hyun Park
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Heesup Han: College of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Sejong University, 98 Gunja-Dong, Gwanjin-Gu, Seoul 143-747, Korea
Amr Al-Ansi: College of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Sejong University, 98 Gunja-Dong, Gwanjin-Gu, Seoul 143-747, Korea
Bee-Lia Chua: Department of Food Service and Management, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Beenish Tariq: NUST Business School, National University of Sciences and Technology, Sector H-12, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Aleksandar Radic: Independent Researcher, Gornji kono 8, 20000 Dubrovnik, Croatia
Su-hyun Park: Department of Hotel and Tourism, Incheon Jaeneung University, 178, Jaeneung-ro, Dong-gu, Incheon 22574, Korea

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-15

Abstract: The tourism industry has been seriously suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis ever since its outbreak. Given this pandemic situation, the major aim of this study is to develop a conceptual framework that clearly explains the US international tourists’ post-pandemic travel behaviors by expanding the theory of planned behavior (TPB). By utilizing a quantitative process, the TPB was successfully broadened by incorporating the travelers’ perceived knowledge of COVID-19, and it has been deepened by integrating the psychological risk. Our theoretical framework sufficiently accounted for the US tourists’ post-pandemic travel intentions for safer international destinations. In addition, the perceived knowledge of COVID-19 contributed to boosting the prediction power for the intentions. The associations among the subjective norm, the attitude, and the intentions are under the significant influence of the tourists’ psychological risks regarding international traveling. The comparative criticality of the subjective norm is found. Overall, the findings of this study considerably enhanced our understanding of US overseas tourists’ post-pandemic travel decision-making processes and behaviors.

Keywords: post-COVID-19; theory of planned behavior (TPB); health belief; perceived risk; protection plan; monetary promotion; approach behavior; US international travelers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

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