Enhancing the understanding of travel behaviour and risk perception to advance the management of destination resilience

Resumen

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all tourism destinationson a global level. Travel restrictions, together with the cancellationof many activities such as festivals, conferences and other types of events, dramatically reduced the number of travellers. In addition, uncertainty and health-related perceived risk increased the complexity of the crisis. To develop effective destination management strategies, managers need to understand travellers’ behaviour, their motivations and intentions to travel. Travel behaviour is influenced by travel-related risk perception.However, little is known about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected travellers’ risk perception, and influenced travel behaviour over time.This chapter contributes to enhancing this understanding by examining the relationship between travel restrictions, risk perception and travel behaviour among residents in Gipuzkoa (autonomous region of the Basque country, Spain).The data collection was conducted during the first half of May 2020. A total of 480 residents participated in the online survey. Cluster analysis was performed and defined three segments of travellers: (1) “The Fearful”; (2) “The highly motivated”; (3) “The Calm”. The results reveal a high degree of internal homogeneity and external heterogeneity based on risk perceptions and attitudes towards future travel intentions. The group named “The Fearful” has been negatively impacted by the perceived risk of cancelling or changing travel plans. “The highly motivated” group continues to travel, although their behaviour has modified during their trips due to the necessity to maintain social distance. COVID-19 has had the least impact on the segment labelled “The Calm”, as their travelbehaviour is not expected to be affected by the pandemic.The chapter will provide some practical guidance for practitioners and policymakers as it sheds light on the new ways in which travellers adopt and face risk. These lessons have great value for developing tailored risk communication and marketing strategies for tourism destinations.