The impact of Covid-19 on tourist’s consumer behaviour

: how the pandemic affects the way how people choose their next travel destinations

Abstract

Since the COVID-19 outbreak worldwide, the tourism industry has been one of the most affected industries. With limits on mobility, due to government prevention measures and people’s reduced interest in traveling, tourism has to rethink its interactions with our societies and understand how tourists are behaving. This study aims to explore the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on tourist’s consumer behaviour. More specifically, it seeks to understand the travel decision making process in the post-pandemic scenario in comparison to the previous period. A review of the literature on tourist´s consumer behaviour and tourist´s decision-making process was done. Then, a mixed-method approach was followed based on data collected from short interviews and an online survey to fully understand what variables tourists are now considering during their travel decision-making process. This relied on a final sample of 353 respondents selected on a non-probabilistic basis. Data collected were subjected to descriptive analysis and statistical tests (Wilcoxon test) using SPSS. Results demonstrated that the current COVID-19 pandemic has an impact on traveller behaviour decisions in terms of motivations, frequency of trips made, information sources, valued factors, advance in which trips are booked, displacement level and type of destination sought. These findings provide valuable insights about tourism industry´s future and indicate the need for tourism companies to redesign their strategies for an effective recovery of the industry.

Date of Award	14 Jul 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Carla Martins (Supervisor) & Joana Machado (Co-Supervisor)