Predictors of Changes in Travel Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Tourists’ Personalities

Cezar Morar, Alexandru Tiba, Biljana Basarin, Miroslav Vujičić, Aleksandar Valjarević, Liudmyla Niemets, Alena Gessert, Tamara Jovanovic, Marius Drugas, Vasile Grama, Marius Stupariu, Alina Stoica and Tin Lukić
Additional contact information
Cezar Morar: Department of Geography, Tourism and Territorial Planning, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania
Alexandru Tiba: Department of Psychology, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania
Biljana Basarin: Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Miroslav Vujičić: Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Aleksandar Valjarević: Faculty of Geography, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Liudmyla Niemets: Department of Human Geography and Regional Studies, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, 61022 Kharkiv, Ukraine
Alena Gessert: Physical Geography Department in Geography Institute, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia
Tamara Jovanovic: Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Marius Drugas: Department of Psychology, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania
Vasile Grama: Department of Geography, Tourism and Territorial Planning, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania
Marius Stupariu: Department of Geography, Tourism and Territorial Planning, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania
Alina Stoica: Department of International Relations and European Studies, Faculty of History, International Relations, Political and Communication Sciences, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania
Tin Lukić: Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 21, 1-19

Abstract: This study investigates travel behavior and psychosocial factors that influence it during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a cross-sectional study, using an online survey, we examined changes in travel behavior and preferences after lifting travel restrictions, and how these changes were influenced by exposure to COVID-19, COVID-19 travel-related risk and severity, personality, fear of travel, coping, and self-efficacy appraisals in the Romanian population. Our results showed that participants traveled less in the pandemic year than the year before—especially group and foreign travel—yet more participants reported individual traveling in their home county during the pandemic period. Distinct types of exposure to COVID-19 risk, as well as cognitive and affective factors, were related to travel behavior and preferences. However, fun-seeking personality was the only major predictor of travel intention, while fear of travel was the only predictor of travel avoidance. Instead, people traveled more cautiously when they perceived more risk of infection at the destination, and had higher levels of fear of travel, but also a high sense of efficacy in controlling the infection and problem-solving capacity. The results suggest that specific information about COVID-19, coping mechanisms, fear of travel, and neuropsychological personality traits may affect travel behavior in the pandemic period.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; personality; coping; fear of travel; travel behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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