The impact of perceived risk on future travel:The role of destination trust during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly a significant influence on the tourism industry due to the perceived risk of travelers that cause them to change their travel decision. The study proposed a conceptual framework to identify the impact of Egyptians’ risk perceptions on intention to travel to tourism destinations during the pandemic. The study examined four risk types; financial risk, psychological risk, health risk, and travel risk. The proposed framework also investigated the mediating role of destination trust on the relationship between the four types of risk and intention to travel. An online questionnaire was conducted on potential leisure travelers and a structural equation modeling was used to test the relationships between hypotheses. The results showed a significant relationship only between psychological, health and travel risk and the intention to travel. The results also proved that only travel risk has no impact on travel intention in the presence of destination trust during the pandemic. The unique contribution of the study is investigating the effect of trust on the relationship between perceived risk and travel intention. Useful practical implications provided by the study to help Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) to develop strategies to decrease the risk perceptions and encourage travelers to revisit tourism destinations.