Distribution of Tourist Behavior in COVID-19 Pandemic

Purpose: Covid-19 has caused an unprecedented situation for the tourism industry with slumping demand during the outbreak and many uncertainties about tourist behavior in the post-pandemic. This study is aimed to discover the distribution in the behavior of tourists in Vietnam, whose government has taken serious and early actions towards the health crisis and among the earliest to reopen the economy. Research design, data, and methodology: We adopted a mixed-method approach - combining qualitative interviews with quantitative research using a questionnaire survey. Through the form of the online survey through social networking channels: Facebook, Gmail. The study received 261 valid responses for analysis. Multivariate analysis techniques were used: descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Results: From the data and result of EFA, the result showed that the distribution of tourist behavior could be grouped into four main factors, including (1) the general impacts, (2) travel-related behaviors; (3) attitudes and preferences regarding modes of tours and destinations; (4) awareness of safety and hygiene. Conclusions: These results highlighted the importance of the theory of perceived risks in explaining the travelers’ prudent decisions. In addition, this study provides practical implications for policymakers and various stakeholders of Vietnam’s tourism industry in formulating the recovery strategy. © 2021. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://Creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.