Do Destination Identity, Memorable Experiences and Perceived Risks Matter to Revisit a Destination in the Age of Global Pandemic?

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic affected businesses and sectors across the world. The worst affected sector was hospitality, as the people could not travel because of government restrictions. Since travel and tourism constitute a significant portion of GDP across nations, it will be a matter of concern for businesses to know if tourists would be keen to revisit their choice destinations, especially the ones affected by COVID-19. The study used the ‘theory of reasoned action’ and ‘perceived risk theory’ to examine 282 Indian tourists’ revisit intention for destination identity, memorable experiences and subjective norms. SPSS Amos 25 and SPSS PROCESS macro were used to verify the proposed conceptual model and test hypotheses. The results display a positive relationship among destination identity, memorable experience, subjective norms and revisit intention. The association was found to be mediated by the attitude towards revisit intention and moderated by perceived risk, both of which were also found to be significant. Earlier studies have neither been conclusive nor the models very comprehensive; hence, this study makes a substantial contribution in this regard.