Mitigating simultaneous returning home after large-scale earthquakes: changing tourists’ intentions to stay through public support

Abstract

The difficulty in returning home in response to an earthquake is a serious problem for tourists, and it is necessary to understand the obstacles involved. The purpose of this study is to highlight factors that affect tourists’ intentions to return home or stay at the site during an earthquake disaster. Questionnaires were administered to tourists in Himeji Castle, and 467 valid responses were obtained. This study analyzed data by decision tree analysis using the tourists’ personal attributes, sightseeing style, and the degree of public support as independent variables and tourists’ behavioral intention as the dependent variable. In the situations related to public support, it became clear that proximity to one’s residential area and available transportation to Himeji had an influence. Further, it was found that public support strongly affected the behavioral intentions of tourists who came from afar. The results confirm that public support, tourists’ attributes, and sightseeing style affect intentions.