An investigation of factors affecting solo travel intention among marginalized groups: a case of Indian Muslim Women

ABSTRACT

This study aims to examine the factors that influence the solo travel intention of Indian Muslim Women. This research is based on a critical evaluation while incorporating the Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour (TPB) published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211 with two additional variables namely motivation and perceived risk. Data was collected using an online questionnaire from December 9, 2021, to January 21, 2022. This study used a quantitative research method, the sampling method is convenient, and the sample size is 480, consisting of Indian Muslim Women. The findings reveal that combining the theory of planned behaviour with motivation and perceived risk resulted in a strong model for predicting the solo travel intention (STI) of Indian Muslim Women. Attitude, subjective norm and motivation positively influence the STI of Indian Muslim Women, while Perceived behavioural control (PBC) does not. However, perceived risk has a significantly negative relationship with STI. There is a void in the literature relating to the solo travel intention of Indian Muslim Women as no study in India has examined the TPB by including motivation and perceived risk in predicting the solo travel intention of Indian Muslim Women. As a result, our study fills that gap. The implications, limitations and future research opportunities are explained lastly.

KEYWORDS:

• Marginalized groups
• solo travel intention
• TPB
• motivation
• perceived risk
• Muslim Women

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sujood

Sujood is currently working as a Guest Faculty at Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India. He has also worked as a Visiting Faculty at Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India. He has completed PhD in Tourism from Faculty of Commerce, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. He has authored two books of UGC-NET/JRF of Tourism. He has published research papers in reputed national and international Journals.

Samiha Siddiqui

Samiha Siddiqui is a Senior Research Fellow of Tourism at the Department of Commerce, Aligarh Muslim University, India. She is currently working on various aspects of Consumer and tourist behaviour. Her research interests include interrelationships between tourism and climate change and sustainability, Sustainable tourism, transformational tourism, cultural heritage tourism, and the rejuvenation of old historical monuments and buildings. She has attended several national and international conferences and workshops and presented research papers.

Naseem Bano

Naseem Bano is a Ph.D. Research Scholar of Tourism from Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India. Her research interests include sustainability, rural development and consumer behaviour in tourism. She has three publications in International highly ranked journals and conferences. Two of her research papers has been recognized by World Health Organization (WHO) and has been listed under global literature on the coronavirus disease. Her recent research focuses on incorporating sustainable development practices into rural tourism management.