A Predictive Investigation of International Tourists' Travel Intention to Jordan

Mohammad Zain Mheidat

doi:10.35516/hum.v52i3.5332

Authors

Mohammad Zain Mheidat Department of Tourism Management, College of Tourism and Hospitality, Yarmouk University, Jordan https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5531-4750

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35516/hum.v52i3.5332

Keywords:

Travel motivation, Destination image, Risk perception, Pandemic fatigue, Travel intention.

Abstract

Objectives: This paper aimed to discuss the influence of travel motivation, risk perception, and destination image of international tourists who visited Jordan post-pandemic to predict their future travel intention since tourism industry significantly contributes to the gross domestic product (GDP) in many developing countries. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted international travel which Jordan has seen a drop in the number of international tourists. Those tourists represent the main target market of the marketing strategy. The government and its stakeholders are striving to ensure the recovery of the tourism sector. Limited studies investigated tourist travel intention post-pandemic from tourists' perspective.

Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire was developed. A total of 460 questionnaires were distributed among international tourists between 4th and 31 December 2022. PLS-SEM was used to analyse data and hypothesis testing.

Results: The study results showed that travel motivation and destination image have a significant influence on travel intention to visit Jordan post-pandemic. Whereas, perceived risks did not significantly influence travel intention. Additionally, pandemic fatigue was found to significantly alleviate the influence of perceived risk and travel motivation on travel intention.

Conclusions: The study findings can help tourism policymakers and industry practitioners to develop an effective marketing strategy to attract more visitors to the country and promote sustainable tourism development in times of crisis and future pandemics.

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