Experiences of Polish Tourists Traveling for Leisure Purposes during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The research presented in this paper examines the experiences of Poles traveling for leisure purposes in the summer season of 2020, taking into account the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study involved the analysis of source data, including statistical data, and a survey administered via the computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI) method. The survey questionnaire was created on the Google platform. The link to the questionnaire was provided via social media to participants of travel groups in the period from 30 November 2020 to 15 February 2021. The sampling was purposive (included only travelers) despite efforts to maintain the gender balance; the proportion of women was higher. Therefore, caution must be applied when interpreting the results which may not be transferable. The survey included questions regarding the respondents’ travel behavior and risk perceptions. 433 correctly completed questionnaires were collected. The dataset was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Descriptive statistics measures and correlation coefficients were used in the analysis of the results. The study shows that some respondents decided against traveling because of the pandemic situation, while those who decided to travel adjusted their behavior by avoiding crowded places and resigning from traveling abroad. Compliance with hygiene standards in the area of tourism services varied, and was the highest in the case of accommodation services. Women rated hygiene standards in chain cafes statistically higher than men and younger people rated hygiene on public transport, trains, air transport and in fast food services higher than older people. The higher the tourism expenditure, the lower the assessment of sanitary standards in tour guide services, air transport and chain cafes decreased.

Exploring The Impact of Perceived Travel Risk Antecedents on Travel Intentions during The Endemic Phase of COVID-19: An Integrative Approach of Protective Motivation Theory (PMT) and Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB)

“…These findings are consistent with prior scholarly works and find resonance in existing literature (e.g. Abou-Shouk et al, 2022;Balińska and Olejniczak, 2021;Chandraet al, 2022;Hiamey et al, 2021;Pendergast, 2021;Selim et al, 2020) In contrast, this study provides empirical support for the impact of the quality of healthcare services on perceived travel risk. Travelers tend to perceive destinations equipped with robust healthcare systems as comparatively safer, a sentiment corroborated by the works of Akhavan et al (2023) and Barlan & Borbon (2022).…”

“…Furthermore, other variables could be mediating or moderating the association between healthcare services and travel risk (Gorsuch, 1983;Hayes, 2018). For instance, it is plausible that the impact of HS on TR is more pronounced for travelers who exhibit heightened health and safety concerns (Balińska and Olejniczak, 2021). Moreover, the influence of HS on TR could be more pronounced in developed countries, where hygiene and safety standards are typically more stringent than in developing nations (Dwipayanti et al, 2021) The third hypothesis (H3) proposed a negative relationship between health care services (HC) and perceived travel risk (TR).…”

“…It is not uncommon for individuals in such contexts to have lower initial expectations regarding hygiene and safety measures (Sunarsa, & Andiani, 2019), often due to a historical acceptance of a certain level of risk or a past negative experience (Amuquandoh, 2011;Dwipayanti et al, 2021). Consequently, the perceived impact of additional measures may not be as pronounced as in regions with higher baseline expectations (Balińska and Olejniczak, 2021;Hiamey et al, 2021). Considering these nuances, it is possible that while hygiene and safety measures may not have appeared statistically significant in the initial analysis, they may still play a role in shaping travel perceptions, albeit within the context of lower baseline expectations and local adaptability (Abdullah et al, 2021).…”

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Tourist Travel Risk Perception and Travel Behaviour: A Case Study of Poland

“…We identified a research gap on this subject in the region of Central and Eastern Europe, where Poland is the largest country. So far, many works from China and Asian countries have been published, as well as a few works about Poland [ 74 , 75 , 76 ]. Tourism-themed groups on Facebook were used in the study.…”

Visitor preferences in rural gastronomic tourism environment and the related design implications

“…Gastronomic attractions are not able to attract as many tourists as they used to Ref. [ 37 ]. Durmaz [ 38 ] found that crowded social distances are the main reason for decreasing people's interest.…”