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Purpose The paper aims to examine the effect of physical distancing control on the intention to travel during the pandemic and to assess the influence of knowledge, social concern and perceived risk on the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Design/methodology/approach A total of 1,068 Indonesian respondents through a purposive sampling approach, filled out online questionnaires during the pandemic. The collected data were analyzed using partial least squares-structural equation modeling. Findings The results indicated that subjective norm as the external factor of the TPB has a stronger effect than the internal factors; attitude and behavioral control. It appears that in a collectivist society, prohibition enforced by family and friends, as well as the government’s sanctions have a stronger influence on one’s decision to travel. The findings also suggested that knowledge, perceived risks and social concern effect tourists’ behavior. Uncertainty and inadequate knowledge will decrease the level of perceived risk, which leads to lower control in practicing physical distancing and increasing intention to travel during the pandemic. Research limitations/implications The research has limitations in its use of a convenient sampling method. This method may not represent the whole population, causing the results to be difficult for generalization. There is also the need for extending the TPB model with different variables in the context of tourism and pandemic. This study enriches the existing tourism literature by applying TPB to examine tourists’ behavior during the Covid-19 pandemic, focusing on knowledge, social concern and perceived risk theory. Practical implications This paper offers useful insights for tourism planners in the government and private destination management levels. It is crucial for a destination management organization to understand the relationship between knowledge, perception and social concern with tourists’ behavior while traveling during pandemics. The understanding of tourist’s behavior when traveling during the pandemic will assist in developing and creating activities and designing health protocols at tourist attractions. Originality/value This study extended the TPB to analyze tourists behavior during the pandemic by applying knowledge, social concern and perceived risk elements.

Indonesia and Malaysia have a combined population of ~225 million Muslims. Little academic work has been conducted on their motives for nonpilgrimage, leisure-based travel. Building on the travel career pattern approach for assessing tourist motivation, the this study sought to uncover the motivational patterns of Muslim tourists in this part of Southeast Asia. A combined total of 356 respondents from the two countries were sampled and the patterns of tourist motives between these Muslim tourists and data from previous studies of Western tourists were compared. Comparisons between the Malaysian data and the Indonesian data were also undertaken. The special importance of relationships, nature appreciation, and safety in the Muslim data compared to responses from Western respondents was identified. Close parallels between the Malaysian and Indonesian Muslim motivation patterns were found. The results were interpreted as highly consistent with Islamic teaching and the collectivist culture of the two communities.