ABSTRACT

Since 2020, COVID-19 pandemic has exerted a serious influence on global tourism and dampened tourists’ travel intention. To understand the traveling public’s psychological resilience in post-COVID-19 travel, this study adopted survey study and employed structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore how tourists’ psychological distance affects travel intention in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results indicated that tourists’ social distance and temporal distance were negatively correlated with their travel intention, whereas there was insufficient evidence to prove that tourists’ spatial distance was related to their travel intention. More interestingly, perceived safety significantly mediated the relationship between social distance, temporal distance, and tourist travel intention. These findings contributed to the empirical research on the correlation between tourists’ psychological distance and their travel intention. Meanwhile, practical strategies were provided for the tourism industry in reducing people’s travel anxiety and encouraging their participation in tourist activities in the post-pandemic era.

摘要

2020年以来，新冠肺炎（COVID-19）疫情对全球旅游业造成严重影响，削弱了游客的出游意愿。为了了解游客在COVID-19后旅行中的心理弹性，本研究采用调查研究并采用结构方程模型（SEM）来探讨在COVID-19大流行背景下游客的心理距离如何影响旅行意愿。研究结果表明，游客的社会距离和时间距离与其旅游意图呈负相关，但没有足够的证据证明游客的空间距离与其旅游意图相关。更有趣的是，感知安全显着调节了社交距离、时间距离和游客旅行意图之间的关系。这些发现有助于游客心理距离与旅游意向相关性的实证研究。同时，为后疫情时代旅游业减少人们出行焦虑、鼓励人们参与旅游活动提供了切实可行的策略。