Destination loyalty and pandemic risks: Revisiting the study of tourist loyalty during the covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

This paper examines how tourist behaviour is conditioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, developing a theoretical framework that considers not only traditional variables such as image, satisfaction, and variety seeking, but also the risks perceived during a pandemic to better explain loyalty towards a tourist destination. Moreover, the paper explores whether the effects of these variables differ in loyalty formation if people who consider visiting a destination in their country again are compared to people who contemplate travelling again to an international destination. Empirical evidence from a survey sample comprising more than 1000 Spanish tourists shows that pandemic-related risks differently influence the tourist loyalty dimensions intention to revisit and recommend both a national destination (441 respondents) and an international destination (600 respondents). Finally, affective image and satisfaction are the main drivers of loyalty in both subsamples.