Title: Intention of young travellers to travel during the COVID-19 pandemic

Authors: Md. Nurnobi Islam; Md. Rakibul Hafiz Khan Rakib

Addresses: Department of Marketing, Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur-5404, Bangladesh ' Department of Marketing, Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur-5404, Bangladesh

Abstract: The global health pandemic (COVID-19) has led to a significant decline in tourism activities and challenged existing norms and practices of the tourism sector. As international travel is restricted, the tourism sector is trying to promote domestic tourism by following health guidelines. This study aims to measure the relationships among social media travel content, perceived social risk of travel, attitude toward travel, and intention to travel during the pandemic time. The data were collected from young travellers in Bangladesh. The structural equation modelling (SEM) technique was used to estimate the relationships among the constructs. The results show that both social media travel content and perceived social risk of travel are significantly related to attitude toward travel and intention to travel. The association between attitude toward travel and intention to travel is also found significant. Destination managers are recommended to implement social media activation programs (e.g., a persuasive advertising campaign) and promote safe travel on their social media platforms (e.g., Facebook) to reduce perceived social risk of travel and create a positive attitude of travellers toward travel domestically during the global pandemic.

Keywords: travel intention; social media; perceived social risk; attitude; COVID-19; Bangladesh.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTP.2022.128138

International Journal of Tourism Policy, 2022 Vol.12 No.4, pp.411 - 426

Received: 08 Nov 2021
Received in revised form: 30 Apr 2022
Accepted: 14 May 2022
Published online: 06 Jan 2023 *

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