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AbstractThis research delves into the adoption of Virtual Reality (VR) technology for travel intentions, with a specific emphasis on understanding generational disparities between Baby Boomers and Gen Z. This study focuses on two pivotal elements necessitating further examination: the role of virtual experiences and content quality in shaping travel intentions within the realm of virtual reality. Our investigation delves into the influence of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness on virtual experiences and the impact of information access and novelty on content quality with travel intention for VR. Utilizing the Partial Least Squares Multigroup Analysis (PLS-MGA) and Generalized Regression Neural Network (GRNN) models, we scrutinize these factors. This study aims to illuminate the technological and generational dimensions of VR adoption within the context of travel intention. The study underscores generational distinctions, yielding an intriguing outcome: virtual experiences distinctly shape the travel intentions of Gen Z but do not find favor among Baby Boomers. Conversely, the influence of content quality is evident, decisively affirming the travel intentions of Baby Boomers while lacking substantiation in the case of Gen Z. This finding provides valuable insights into how different generations engage with and adopt VR technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study extends the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) by incorporating perceived knowledge of COVID-19 (PKC) and destination overall image (DOI) to explore the travel intentions of Taiwanese and Chinese tourists to Vietnam post-pandemic. Utilizing a consistent PLS multigroup analysis (PLS-MGA), it contrasts the decision-making processes between these groups. The augmented TPB framework explains 81.9% of the variance in travel intentions. Key findings indicate that PKC significantly influences TPB determinants, with a more pronounced effect on Attitude toward behavior among Chinese respondents. Attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and DOI positively affect destination visit intention. These insights are critical for tourism marketers and policymakers in devising strategies to attract Taiwanese and Chinese tourists to Vietnam, highlighting the enhanced TPB model’s relevance in examining tourist behavior with pandemic awareness. This study paves the way for future research to further extend TPB concerning COVID-19’s impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food vlogs are an important way to promote food tourism, but the effect of food vlogs on potential tourists' travel intentions is effectively discussed. This study discusses a new interactive method, namely, bullet comments, which is an important means of communication between audiences and vlog content with high real-time interaction. We analyzed the effect of food vlogs on audiences' travel intention expression. The main results were as follows. Firstly, we identified 126 highly engaging sessions. A typology analysis of highlight moments was carried out, mainly including food experience, fun, place, interaction, and production techniques. Secondly, by constructing five kinds of bullet comment themes, the flow relationship between vlog content and bullet comment content was established. Finally, we proposed three approach hypotheses to explain the process mechanism of travel intention expression. In the para-social interaction, the interactive participation of bullet comments effectively improves the audience's active perception of food and destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing literature on the intersection between tourism and politics has recognized that tourism planning and development can be a political process in which decisions are made in order to implement specific political policies and goals. However, there has been very little acknowledgment that political actions themselves can shape tourism. The current research seeks to address this gap. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as our context, we explore the potential implications of foreign aid on country image and tourists' travel intentions, we show that participants hold a more positive country image and thus are more likely to visit a country that provides aid to their own country compared to a country that is the recipient of aid provided by their own country. We also show that participants' patriotism in their own country can actually strengthen the country image and travel intentions they hold of the country that sends aid to them. The findings are among the first to show how political actions influence tourism and provide insights to managers and policy-makers in understanding how foreign aid may also influence tourism by improving their country's image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food vlogs are a new trend in destination marketing, but there is limited cognition of food tourism motivates potential consumers to travel. We used content analysis and natural language processing for the effect of food vlogs on awakening travel intentions. The results showed that life-oriented and mundane food vlogs could significantly awaken travel intentions. Meanwhile, unique food community prompted the transformation of viewers into potential foodies, triggering their travel intentions. Furthermore, food vlogs revealed that viewers expressed their opinions around six dimensions, with a sense of place and empathy at the core. Finally, the paper verified that food vlogs created a unique community circle and promoted positive destination image perceptions among viewers to awakening travel intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examination of tourist behaviour during and after the crisis is of great importance for understanding and coping with the harmful effects of the crisis. The study aims to discover the impact of perceived risks, health status, and travel experience on proximal travel intentions during the Covid-19 outbreak. Perceived risks that coronavirus brought reshaped the collective awareness and altered typical travel habits. The research involved 1109 respondents from four Balkan countries who participated in an online survey at the first peak of the pandemic (April 2020). According to the results, perceived risk negatively influenced travel intentions. The study presumed the positive influence of previous travel experience on travel intentions and indicated its negative impact on risk perception. Results showed that subjective health condition positively affected travel intention and had no significant effect on risk perception. The profound uncertainty that the tourism sector experienced is primarily reflected in an immense impact on the travel possibilities and changes in tourist preferences. This study offers an insight into peoples' travel intentions influenced by a global health crisis, reflecting specific risk negation when it comes to the timing of after-crisis travel plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 outbreak has the world gripped by fear and panic with its high velocity of infection. Based on the first three months of the global pandemic centred in Asia, this study investigates the relationship between the perception of COVID-19 on consumers' destination image towards Wuhan and China, and how risk perceptions and changes in destination image affect travel intention to the destinations. Findings illuminated that perceptions of COVID-19 do not have a direct effect on destination image. Instead, risk perception of travelling during the pandemic mediated its effects on the destination image of Wuhan and China. Theoretical and practical implications concerning the management of destination image for the recovery of tourism are discussed with future possibilities of this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the chaordic systems influencing holidaymakers' travel intentions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis, it examines the perceptions of 400 UK holidaymakers travelling to Cyprus. A complementary Necessary Condition Analysis evaluates the size effects of the examined conditions. Moreover, semi-structured interviews with Cypriot industry stakeholders shed light on the relationships that describe the generated configurations. Two solutions were generated: (i) cultural and destination attributes, and (ii) travel attitudes, whereas qualitative findings revealed that industry stakeholders agree that destination attributes, especially the cultural aspects of a place, and a combination of positive and negative travel attitudes are influential on travel intentions. The results showcase the complexity upon travel intentions during uncertainty, yielding significant theoretical and practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In pursuit of better travel decisions, potential tourists are not only exposed to online destination marketing content but are also exposed to user-generated content (UGC) which are based on the subjective evaluation of people's travel experiences. These user-generated contents have been observed to significantly influence tourist travel intentions, vlogs in particular. This paper aims to further our understanding of how tourists perceive user-generated videos and their influence on their travel intentions. A survey was conducted among tourists (n = 274) in Cape Coast Castle, Ghana and analysed using a Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) technique. Results suggest that tourist's perception of user-generated videos in relation to their perceived credibility and perceived fairness influenced their travel intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the impact of COVID-19 mobility restrictions and vaccinations on people's behavioural intentions to travel and their actual travel patterns. The study was conducted in Israel using three-wave cross-sectional analysis: June 2020 (n=129), November 2020 (n=211) and April 2021 (n=208). The findings reveal that the main factor supporting tourism is the desire to resume travel and not vaccination. The study also shows that domestic travel is not a substitute for international travel, at least in the case of Israel. Attitudes towards tourism are significant predictors of domestic and international travel intentions and of actual domestic travel. Nevertheless, the belief that tourism is a source of recovery is related only to intentions to travel internationally. Non-clinical depression symptoms are negatively correlated with domestic tourism. Variables previously considered relevant to resuming tourism, e.g. vaccination, economic stress and health risk factors, have little or no influence on future demand, while attitudes regarding tourism emerge as the most important factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship between perceived impacts of COVID-19, risk perceptions, emotions, and travel intentions within selected higher education institutions of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR). The paper argues that hospitality and tourism recovery strategies should focus on specific internal market segments by understanding their cognitive appraisal of the current situation, their emotional state, and possible responses to future travel. Through an online survey, data were gathered using convenience sampling of 412 respondents comprising students and workers of three Macau Higher Educational Institutions – which form a segment of Macau's domestic tourism market. The results indicate that a high perceived risk of travelling during COVID-19 has increased negative emotions and reduced intentions to travel. Nonetheless, most students and workers of these institutions in Macau do not feel vulnerable to the virus due to the stringent health and policy measures in place. As government strict measures 'protect' internal customers within the city but 'paralyse' travel outside the city, promoting domestic travel becomes a practical way to reset tourism but would require understanding the perceptions and risk concerns of specific market segments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Backpacking is becoming a popular way to travel, and solo female backpackers are a particularly interesting group in this travel segment. This article focuses on solo female backpackers' experiences of precedent and in situ sociocultural, practical, personal and spatial constraints (Wilson & Little, 2005) in Southeast Asia. The study is based on qualitative methodology using semi-structured interviews with 37 solo female backpackers who have visited the region. Results show how solo female backpackers develop strategies to address the various constraints they encounter. These results are in line with other similar studies and have useful implications for destination managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between solo female travel risks, anxiety, and their travel intentions. The moderating role of online psychological-social support between anxiety and solo female travel intentions was explored as well. Data was collected through two Facebook groups for solo female travelers. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and moderation analyses were conducted to test the hypothesized relationships among variables. Findings indicate that solo female travel risks (gendered risk, destination-specific risk, and social-psychological risk) have negative effects on travel intentions and positive effects on anxiety. While anxiety adversely affects solo female travel intentions, online psychological-social support weakens this effect. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated antecedents for local food consumption motivation and whether motivation influences intentions to travel to a destination for local food consumption. Variables included food-related personal traits, food image, and destination image. The study followed a quantitative online survey design among 562 adult residents, surveyed on personal traits and intentions to travel to a destination for cuisine. The results demonstrated that openness to experience, food involvement, and food neophobia predicted the motivation to travel to a destination for that destination's local cuisine. Food involvement and motivation to travel related to the participants' intention to travel. Participants' food image moderated the relationship between food neophobia and travel motivation, strengthening the relationship among those with a strong positive food image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the impact of a film on the featured destination's image and travel intentions through comparing the results of a one-group pretest-posttest quasi-experiment. Then, the effect of destination attributes and overall image on travel intentions is examined simultaneously through path analysis. The results indicate that the role of the overall image as a mediating variable is not significant as respondents relied more on specific destination image attributes on their intention to visit. This was even more prominent after the viewing of the film. The overall image had the strongest direct effect on visit interest in future for both pretest and posttest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Travel intentions are directly tied to destination awareness, and potential visitors' perceptions of a destination and their personal circumstances. Marketing campaigns are often used to increase the purchase intentions of a relevant target market by creating awareness, changing perceptions, or reinforcing previously held views. Tracking intentions to visit is an important measure of the effectiveness of a destination's marketing strategy. This article reports on one such study for Prince Edward Island (PEI), a major Canadian tourist destination. The results are based on 103,402 responses, over two years, to a web-based travel intentions survey. The results indicate that intentions to visit PEI are highly related to how potential travelers learn about the official PEI visitor website and the ability to recall specific forms of advertising seen or heard. Visitor recall of PEI, measured through exposure to one or more types of advertising, has a pronounced impact on the intention to visit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of risk associated with mega-event tourism has been receiving increased attention. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between risk perceptions and travel intentions associated with an Olympic Games' host country, using the Beijing Games as a case study. To control for the influence of individual backgrounds, this study focused on a homogeneous population, students below 30 years of age, US born and raised, and enrolled at a university in the US. Research participants (N = 350) responded to a questionnaire designed to measure perceived risks, travel intentions, international travel experience, tourist role, and demographics. A factor analysis revealed four perceived risk factors: Personal Safety, Cultural Risk, Socio-psychological Risk, and Violence Risk. Utilizing the factor scores, regression analyses revealed that Violence Risk and Socio-psychological Risk had significantly (p < 0.05) negative impacts on participants' intention to visit China as a tourist. Although not statistically significant, the four risk factors were negatively predictive of the intention to attend the Olympic Games in China. The perceived risk factors were further found to be related to gender and tourist role types. Discussions are focused on the implications of these research findings to mega event management and promotions of host countries as tourism destinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]