Residents’ attitudes toward and intentions to participate in local tourism during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

COVID-19 has struck the global travel industry, and local tourism provides a choice. However, little research has explored this market. Our study filled that research gap by incorporating three critical variables that COVID-19 brings, namely, travel anxiety, constrained travel choice, and community citizenship behavior, to extend the model of the theory of planned behavior (TPB). This study surveyed 403 residents in Hong Kong and asked them to evaluate their attitudes toward and intentions to participate in local tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic and predict their local tourism after COVID-19. Results suggested that constrained travel choices and community citizenship behaviors would, directly and indirectly, affect residents’ attitudes and intentions. Travel anxiety influenced perceived behavioral control, although that variable did not directly affect participants’ attitudes and intentions. This study has managerial implications for planning and promoting local tourism in the extended future.