Short break drive holiday destination attractiveness during COVID-19 border closures

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management

Publication Date

5-26-2022

Abstract

Research into the topic of destination image has been popular in the tourism literature since the 1970s. However, only a minority of destination image studies have focused on the context of short break drive holidays. Domestic holidays have taken on increased importance for the tourism industry in many parts of the world during travel restrictions caused by COVID-19. Building on theorizing from evolutionary psychology, this paper reports a study with the data collected from two samples in New Zealand and Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conjoint analysis revealed the two most important destination attributes in terms of crowdedness and accommodation type, and latent class analysis revealed four segments. These insights have practical implications for marketers of smaller, less crowded destinations interested in the short break drive market, particularly given uncertainties about international leisure travel during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the possibility of future coronavirus outbreaks.

ISSN

1447-6770

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Disciplines

Tourism and Travel

Keywords

COVID-19, Short break, Destination image, Destination marketing, Pandemic, Domestic travel, Conjoint, Segmentation, DMO

Scopus ID

85130719118

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

yes

Open Access Type

Bronze: This publication is openly available on the publisher’s website but without an open license

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