Title: An empirical investigation of campers' loyalty during COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from Tunisia

Authors: Amal Ben Cheikh; Ines Ben Othman

Addresses: Avicenne Private Business School (APBS), Tunis, Tunisia; Applied Research in Business Relationships and Economics (ARBRE), Institut Supérieur de Gestion de Tunis, University of Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia ' Avicenne Private Business School (APBS), Tunis, Tunisia

Abstract: Camping tourism experiences growth with tourists searching for new and diversified tourism alternatives that reduce the degree of risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research paper investigates the influence of tourists' risk perception due to COVID-19 pandemic with the consequence effects of the place attachment on destination loyalty. Findings prove that perceived risk due to COVID-19 has a significant negative impact on tourists' attachment to camping attractions. Besides, the latter has a significant positive influence on their intention to revisit and their electronic word of mouth (EWOM) communication. This study contributes to enrich the theoretical foundation of different variables combined in the conceptual model, and it suggests several practical recommendations for camping projects managers.

Keywords: perceived risks due to COVID-19; camping attraction attachment; revisit intention; electronic word of mouth; EWOM; Tunisia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJKMTH.2024.136332

International Journal of Knowledge Management in Tourism and Hospitality, 2024 Vol.3 No.3, pp.245 - 265

Received: 30 Jul 2023
Accepted: 02 Aug 2023
Published online: 30 Jan 2024 *

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