Marketing messages for post-pandemic destination recovery- A Delphi study

Abstract

What is the best way to communicate with American outbound visitors as the travel recommences after the COVID-19 pandemic? This timely study aimed to find answers to this question faced by many destinations. To this end, ideas were sought from industry and academic experts on what message features may positively influence American visitors international travel intentions following the COVID-19 pandemic. Three rounds of conventional Delphi research delivered fifteen message features, eight of which attained panel consensus. These included COVID-related features such as safety , accurate pandemic information , a show of open outdoor spaces , and building visitor confidence along with destination-related features including positive destination attributes, authentic local experience, locals support , and reminder of joys of travel . Each message feature is discussed in detail with implications to the prescribed context.

The Bridge at the End of the World: Linking Expat’s Pandemic Fatigue, Travel FOMO, Destination Crisis Marketing, and Vaxication for “Greatest of All Trips”

“…Recent studies in management and marketing research have focused on the identification of new and effective strategies for destination marketing and image creation in the COVID crisis scenario, aimed at prospective growth in post-pandemic tourism [11,[46][47][48]81]. Glyptou [46] emphasized that positive image creation of a destination during times of a prolonged crisis, such as COVID-19, acts as a predictor of tourist intentions for visiting destinations.…”

“…Moreover, the physical factors of the destinations were found to be more influential. Similarly, Singh et al [48] identified marketing methods that can help destinations and tourism businesses to sustain and stand out during a crisis, such as COVID-19. The authors suggested COVID-related marketing attributes for opening destinations after the pandemic, vaccinated staff, open and outdoor spaces, and other information to increase traveler's engagement and confidence that would consequently affect their visit intentions.…”

“…The concept of crisis marketing in the era of COVID-19 tourism relates to the efforts of travel and hospitality businesses as well as governments to promote their destinations in a way that travelers are fully aware of the pandemic conditions, availability of services, and responsiveness of the host destinations (e.g., authenticity, transparency, empathy, humility, creativity, and optimism) during the crisis [11,47]. For example, if a country plans to re-open tourism for locals as well as global travelers, then the government and tourism planners should devise effective crisis marketing strategies (e.g., digital online campaigns) to promote their destination as safe and responsive during the crisis [11,48]. Although the strategies adopted during crisis marketing mainly depend on the nature of the disaster or crisis, the prime purpose remains the same that is, to ensure the survival of a business during a crisis and revival after it, instead of making massive profits on the cost of people's life and healthcare risk.…”

“…Although the strategies adopted during crisis marketing mainly depend on the nature of the disaster or crisis, the prime purpose remains the same that is, to ensure the survival of a business during a crisis and revival after it, instead of making massive profits on the cost of people's life and healthcare risk. Several studies have focused on finding the pathways for the revival of global tourism by marketing destinations as safe during the COVID-19 crisis [11,[46][47][48].…”

“…Similarly, Ahmad et al [47] empirically highlighted the positive effect of destination image and visit intentions of the travelers in the post-pandemic tourism industry. A recent study by Singh et al [48] emphasized the availability of COVIDrelated information, staff vaccination details, outdoor spaces show-off, and post-pandemic schedules as a key factor to attract travelers in the recovery phase. In post-COVID-19 tourism, when the indicators of business revival start to shine and the industry begins to bloom once again, different marketing practices can be used to influence the decisionmaking of travelers while selecting a tourism destination.…”