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.
The innovativeness of this research derives from the emergent phenomenon of the COVID-19 pandemic that has never been a subject of scientific research before, especially in this project domain. This pandemic has hit the economics of the entire states, degraded the whole markets, and brought to light issues and challenges that need to be addressed in the future. There are economic sectors that are especially vulnerable to the outcomes of the pandemic with noticeable and dramatic consequences. The Tourism sector is one of such markets that suffered the most, firstly due to quarantine measures, secondly because of the newly emerged risks related to COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the wealth of literature currently available on the risk perception in the Tourism sector, it is mostly related to the pre-existing threats, such as terrorism or epidemics (Ebola, H1N1 influenza, Zika virus). However, there is still a lack of studies related to the risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in the tourism sector and its influence on travelling plans and behaviours.
As mentioned before, in this research the authors will study the case of Italy and the perception of risk related to COVID-19 pandemic perceived by young Italians under 35 on their decision to travel. The choice of this research topic is based on strong motivations. Italy turned out to be one of the countries that suffered the most from the coronavirus pandemic at both European and international level. During the lockdown in Italy, social and economic spheres were affected in a serious, most unpredictable way and beard significant losses that are to be calculated in the future. The consequences of COVID-19 pandemic will undoubtedly affect the Italian Tourism sector, the economic ability of Italians to travel domestically and abroad, and their consumer behavior. Indeed, the highly developed tourism sector and an unprecedented level of the diffusion of COVID-19 in the Country create a unique mix of factors that turn out Italy in a sort of "testing field", making its case rather challenging and promising to study.
The time and contextual conditions of the data collection make this research unique and unrepeatable. The authors found it extremely important to estimate the change of risk perception related to COVID-19 pandemic during all the stages of the national lockdown, to estimate whether risk perception will change with the easing of restrictions of the national lockdown and international scenario, and also with the change of media agenda. Due to these reasons, a longitudinal study was designed. The web-based survey will be done 3 times, with the same sample of respondents, starting from Phase 1 of national lockdown. This approach will help to gather unique information and to reveal the insights that could not have come to light in other conditions.
Concerning the advance in the state of art brought by this research, the authors find it extremely important to also study the willingness to pay (WTP) for touristic services in a new post-pandemic reality. Previously this topic was not studied in the literature, although the studies on the WTP in the tourism sector were conducted in the past (Chi et al., 2020; Dutta, 2020; Jurardo-Rivas and Sanches-Rivero, 2019, Sidaly et al. 2019). However, with the change of circumstances brought up by COVID-19 pandemic to the tourism sector the authors find it important to analyze the shift in this field. For this purpose the following variables will be measured - the influence of such factors as availability of travel insurance, free cancellation, flexible dates of travelling on the choice to buy a plane, train or other transport tickets during and after the pandemic; the influence of free cancellation options and the possibility to pay at the property on the choice of touristic accommodation. This research also provides interesting insights on the expectations of the focus target about the fluctuations of tariffs for the touristic services during/after the pandemic and the affordability of travelling in Italy and abroad during/after the pandemic; on the changes in the state of welfare due to COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences for the travelling behavior of young Italians under 35.
The insights of the research provide not only theoretical, but also strong managerial contribution, especially for the companies operating in the Travel and Tourism sector - transportation providers, hospitality industry, insurance companies. Revealing the state of readiness of consumers to travel abroad or domestically, the willingness to pay a premium price for additional services while travelling in the post-pandemic era and a better definition of such additional services will help to shed lights on the new tendencies in the broad tourism context among young tourists, to elaborate and adapt marketing strategies as well as business models for the newly arisen circumstances and better prepare for the future challenges.