Online travel searches: From pandemic to endemicity

Abstract

This research paper presents the core findings of a study on the impact of stringency of government policies on online travel search behaviour between 2020 and 2022, and how these measures were perceived by potential travellers concerning different destinations. This study also includes isolated effects, deaths, and vaccinations, which are representative of the level of risk of COVID-19. Results show that online travel searches do not cease during a health crisis, but fluctuate in response to perceived risks and travel friction factors until the recovery phase. It highlights the influence of online search engines as liminal systems that provide travel consumers with a transient means of contact with destinations in an unstable market environment, but which can materialize into consumption at any given moment perceived by consumers as viable. Findings also reveal that risk factors and stringency of policies among destinations were perceived unevenly by potential tourists.