One year later: shifts and endurances in travel intentions of Bulgarian residents in the time of pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic brought significant changes in all spheres of public life. Economically, as well as in terms of behavioural change, tourism has been one of the most affected sectors and nearly two years after the crisis began, the future is still unclear. This paper focuses on changes in tourist behaviour by tracking the shifts and persisting patterns within a one-year period. The study is based on two surveys conducted online in April 2020 and April 2021 and display the trends for a very specific and understudied context – a European country characterized by general distrust to the severity of the virus as well as towards imposed measures against the disease distribution at both national and international levels. Our findings question the wide-spread assumption that health-related concerns are the primary factor affecting tourist behaviour in the pandemic and identify travel restrictions and income as having major significance. Another important observation is the lack of significant changes within the study period, which examines two different situations: the onset of the pandemic that brought a great shock at all levels and a year later, when both objective circumstances and subjective perceptions were not expected to be the same.

Back to the nature and travelling off the beaten path? – The explicit and implicit examination of ‘new’ destination choices and travel decisions in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic

“…According to the literature, during the pandemic women often associate spending time in nature with healthy -family activities and a sense of safety -security, whereas those seeking social connectedness could have viewed blue-green spaces during this time as their sole opportunity for socialization (Day, 2020;Derks et al, 2020;Korpilo et al, 2021;Venter et al, 2021;De Meo et al, 2023). The fact that there was no other observable relationship between the respondents' demographic variables and the D-score-based Nature visitor classes corroborates the conclusions of Dogramadjieva & Terziyska (2022) that there is no agreement among studies on the attributes of tourists who demonstrate resilience to the COVID-19 crisis.…”

“…While most of us are longing for the past, pre-covid times and norms, consciously or unconsciously, for people who lost more during the COVID-19 years the co-COVID norms will inevitably determine the upcoming years, affecting both physical and psychological risk perceptions. This experience has the potential to act as both a deterrent and a driving force for traveling (Dogramadjieva & Terziyska, 2022), but in the long run, it is likely to result in more careful and sensible choices (Golets et al, 2020;Neuburger & Egger, 2020;Matiza & Kruger, 2021).…”

“…almost instinctive, deep-rooted need to occasionally leave their ordinary living and working environment (Raffay, 2020;Dogramadjieva & Terziyska, 2022). Nevertheless, as Felkai (2021, p. 44) emphasized, "Travel will not be the same as before the pandemic", the old processes accelerated by the pandemic and the newly emerging trends have already become part of our consciousness and daily lives.…”

“…It is to be noted that due to the dynamic nature of shocks like COVID-19, pandemic-induced behaviour changes are unlikely to remain constant as the crisis situation evolves (Neuburger & Egger, 2020;Dogramadjieva & Terziyska, 2022;Talwar et al, 2022): the negative influence of perceived risk on travel intentions can escalate rapidly, but it may also be a temporary phenomenon that dissipates quickly once lockdown restrictions are lifted. Additionally, as Venter et al (2021) emphasized, there is limited knowledge about customer perceptions, attitudes, and intentions in response to the pandemic.…”

“…Additionally, as Venter et al (2021) emphasized, there is limited knowledge about customer perceptions, attitudes, and intentions in response to the pandemic. Besides, most of the existing ones are derived from cross-sectional studies, considering the 'new reality' as coexisting with the pandemic, rather than as an evolving or post-pandemic phenomenon (Dogramadjieva & Terziyska, 2022). Consequently, it remains unclear whether these patterns are short-term responses or are likely to continue due to shifts in personal risk perception, social norms, and acclimation to new environments.…”