Personalities and politics – prospects for tourism in pandemic blurred 2021

Recent tourism research showed that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, various psychological aspects affected people’s decisions and travel behavior (Miao et al., 2021; Yang et al., 2020; Gössling et al., 2020). Tourism has never experienced such a global collapse, fiercely supported by governmental decisions in holding back all tourism-related activities. This research attempts to offer insights into a sounder understanding of tourist behavior and travel patterns by systematically identifying psychological manifestations reflected in the basic human value system. Using statistical tests, hypothesized group divide based on specific value sets related to safety and conformity and on the opposite travel needs, being embedded in the hierarchy of human values. The study further indicated that defined risk-related cluster groups have different sociodemographic characteristics and geographical distribution.