How Does COVID-19 Risk Perception Affect Wellness Tourist Intention: Findings on Chinese Generation Z

Abstract

Understanding the influencing mechanism of the COVID-19 pandemic on the public’s travel intentions is key to creating effective strategies to restore and enhance confidence in tourism. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), an extended model was proposed to investigate the Chinese Generation Z’s perception of risk and its effect on the consequences of behavioral process toward wellness tourism. A total of 727 respondents were surveyed by using an online questionnaire. The relationships among the perceptions of risks, three key explanatory variables (attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control) in the TPB, and wellness tourism intention were evaluated. This study verified that both the perceived health risk and the perceived psychological risk negatively impacted the wellness tourism intentions of Gen Z. Attitude is a partial mediator between subjective norms, perceived behavior control, and travel intentions, respectively. The findings are discussed from the perspective of the theoretical and managerial implications, as well as of future research directions.

COVID-19, destination image, and destination visit intention: unpacking the impacts of familiarity, generation, and gender amidst COVID-19

“…Finally, the outcomes suggested that the negative impacts of CFU on the intention to visit differ significantly in G Z and G X , favoring G X . This result aligns with the assumptions of Li and Huang (2023), which argue that younger people tend to be more risk-tolerant than older individuals. Furthermore, the negative impact of CFU on DI and intention to visit differs significantly in G Y and G X in favor of G X , but the difference in the link between DI and intention to visit favors G Y .…”

“…Generation Z, for instance, relies more on the internet for making purchases and is more influenced by social media when choosing vacation destinations. With a strong inclination to seek sensation and experience, younger individuals are more likely to engage in travelrelated adventures (Damanik et al, 2023;Li and Huang, 2023). In addition, Li and Huang (2023) found that, compared to older individuals, younger people tend to be more risktolerant.…”

“…With a strong inclination to seek sensation and experience, younger individuals are more likely to engage in travelrelated adventures (Damanik et al, 2023;Li and Huang, 2023). In addition, Li and Huang (2023) found that, compared to older individuals, younger people tend to be more risktolerant. Thus, the following hypothesis was developed:…”

“…Moreover, generational investigation can be used to comprehend the travel-related preferences, attitudes and behaviors of various generations. Therefore, it is worth spending time on analyzing generational groups, including their habits of consumption, to comprehend visitor behavior (Li and Huang, 2023). However, critical discussion on behavioral differences between generations during and after the COVID-19 stages is lacking (Damanik et al, 2023;Dı ´az-Santamarı ´a et al, 2022).…”

Health and Wellness Tourists’ Motivation and Behavior Intention: The Role of Perceived Value

“…The high levels of travelers' behavioral intention represent their preference for health and wellness tourism attractions as destinations, higher satisfaction with the tourism products or services, and willingness to recommend the tour to friends and family [5,24,25]. Tourists' behavioral intentions are influenced by many factors, including demographic information such as age [26], education level [1,27], health status [28], and psychological factors including motivation [29], risk perception [30], and satisfaction [31]. Existing studies have noted the negative impact of the threat posed by the COVID-19 virus on the tourism market [2,30,32].…”