An exploration of domestic tourists’ behaviour and responses towards leisure market services and destination choice during COVID-19 : a case of KwaZulu-Natal

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the behaviour of domestic tourists towards destinations and tourism services in KwaZulu-Natal in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Numerous studies confirm that the tourism industry is prone to unforeseen circumstances. Globally, the pandemic has developed a radical and inescapable change in the world and has had a severe impact on the tourism industry as it witnessed a significant shift in travel behaviour both locally and internationally. Internationally, governments imposed strict regulations to curb the spread of the pandemic such as closing their borders and restricting international travel. Equally, domestic travel was restricted as there were national lockdowns implemented which limited peoples’ movements within their country of residence. Hence, the COVID-19 pandemic adjusted how domestic leisure tourists plan their travel and travel behaviour when preparing for their leisure trips. According to the literature, during a pandemic, tourists prefer going to places that are remote and not crowded while some seek destinations that include technological innovations to eliminate human contact. Furthermore, the literature shows that whilst there are several factors that influence the behaviour of tourists’, this study focused on the social, situational, personal, and economic factors and these factors fall under external and internal factors. There are numerous scholars focusing on international tourist behaviour, however, limited literature is available regarding domestic tourist behaviour especially with the KwaZulu-Natal context. This study adopted a convergent mixed- method approach by using a purposive sample of 10 tourism role-players that represented the qualitative data as well as a snowball sample of 89 domestic leisure tourists representing the quantitative data. Primary data was obtained through the administration of online questionnaires as well as through conducting virtual interviews. The quantitative data was analysed using SPSS and the qualitative data was analysed using NVIVO. According to the findings, there were several changes in domestic tourist behaviour during the pandemic. The study highlights risk aversion behaviour and extreme safety precautions from domestic tourists as a primary priority when making holiday bookings during a pandemic. Furthermore, both qualitative and quantitative data reveal that many domestic tourists experienced financial difficulties that led to booking cancellations and lesser participation in tourism offerings amidst the pandemic. Moreover, the primary and the secondary data concur that there was a greater preference for domestic travel during and after the pandemic. Notably, there was a minority of young domestic tourists who still preferred crowded spaces amid the pandemic. This study provides opportunities for Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs) and tourism role-players to focus on economic and psychosocial sustainable strategies that will promote domestic tourism during a pandemic.