Analysis of Staycation Preferences of Egyptian Travelers Post COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the economic sector, and tourism has been one of the hardest hit industries. This is due to the numerous imposed restrictions to curb down the spreading of the pandemic and reduce the mobility. In this context, the "staycation" as an emerging form of domestic tourism becomes a booming trend in the tourism and leisure industry. This alternative mode of travel could promote affordable domestic vacations. Hence, this study aims to explore the growing trend of staycation in Egypt aftermath COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, it seeks to investigate the differences in behavioral characteristics, and preferences of Egyptian staycationers post COVID-19 pandemic based on their socio-demographic characteristics. Primary data were collected through an online survey from 208 participants and Chi-Square test was conducted to examine the relationship between the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents and preferences for staycation. The findings of the study showed that amongst all socio demographic characteristics, gender and age of the respondents were significantly associated with most travel preferences while education and profession were associated with only a few staycation preferences aftermath the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the findings of the study 943 ‫والفهادق‬ ‫السياحة‬ ‫كلية‬ ‫جملة‬ -‫عدد‬ 13 -‫يونيو‬ 9093 ‫م‬ could guide Egyptian tourism authorities in designing proper marketing strategies to increase Egyptian staycationers" satisfaction. The study ends up with some useful implications for Egyptian tourism stakeholders, including local tour operators, travel agencies, hotels, marketers, and authorities to develop new business models for target market segments.