Ricerc@Sapienza

The Travel & Tourism sector represents a wide share of the national and global economy. The sudden health and social crisis brought by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 is expected not only to affect the economic trend of this sector but also the risk-related decisions concerning the intentions to travel both domestically and abroad. The aim of this research project is to investigate how the perception of risk connected to COVID-19 pandemic affects the travel habits and choices of young Italians under 35. At the same time, revealing the attitude of consumers to travel abroad or within the country, the willingness to pay a premium price for additional services while travelling during and after the pandemic, and a better definition of such additional services will help to shed lights on the new tendencies in the Travel & Tourism sector among young tourists, to elaborate and adapt marketing strategies for the newly arisen circumstances and future challenges. To achieve this goal, the present research relies on a predictive model informed by the extant literature on the main risks associated with tourism. Through a longitudinal study structured in three sequential rounds of web-based survey for young Italians under 35, it will be possible to collect data concerning the variables - consistently with the different phases of the national lockdown - to statistically test the model. A further follow-up phase contemplates the comparison of the evidence obtained in the three phases descripted above with objective secondary data concerning the travel trends gathered through reliable sources as well as a further survey round conducted ex-post with the same sample of respondents. The newly emergent context under investigation as well as the triangulation of data sources will allow the authors to contribute both to the literature and to the managerial context.