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
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.
International journal of environmental research and public health