Every storm will pass: Examining expat’s host country-destination image, cultural intelligence and renewed destination loyalty in COVID-19 tourism

Abstract

The massive cultural transformation in the pandemic-paused tourism industry has revamped loyalty towards destinations, thus prompting scholarly attention towards global expats who were rarely considered in tourism research. Drawing on data from 266 expats in South Korea, the study examined the effects of country image (CYI), destination image (DNI), and expat’s cultural intelligence (ECLI) on expat’s renewed destination loyalty (EDLY) in COVID-19 tourism. Using partial least squares structural modeling (PLS-SEM), we show that expat’s cultural intelligence has a significant influence on destination image and expat’s destination loyalty. Moreover, the study provides new empirical evidence that destination image mediates country image and expat’s destination loyalty in the COVID-19 tourism. The study findings underpin policy interventions to rescue tourism destinations under COVID-19 crisis, as well as restore loyalty towards destinations in the post-COVID-19 global tourism.

Keywords:

• Country image
• destination image
• cultural intelligence
• destination loyalty
• global expats and COVID-19 tourism

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

The COVID-19 pandemic with its emerging new “delta” variant outbreaks has almost paralyzed the global travel and tourism industry. The highly changing tourism landscape has created new and unprecedented challenges for tourism destinations to lead their strategic response under the increasing threats and constraints of the pandemic. The present study focused on the dominant role of global expats to explore the paradigm shift in the country image, destination image, and renewed destination loyalty under the COVID-19 tourism. Importantly, the present study specifically focused on the changing cultural dynamics across tourism destinations, by examining the role of expats cultural intelligence in influencing their evaluation of destination image and renewed destination loyalty under COVID-19 tourism. The study implications offer significant advancements in theoretical and practical insights for dealing with the emerging challenges, and creating new opportunities for the survival and growth of tourism under and beyond COVID-19 pandemic.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Umer Zaman

Umer Zaman is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the Endicott College of International Studies, Woosong University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea. Dr. Zaman has recently published in top-tier international tourism journals (including JHTM and APJTR), also in the International Journal of Project Management (IJPM) based on his interdisciplinary research interest. He has extensive experience working in action-based research projects under various international/regional organizations and donor agencies including the UNODC (Vienna) and ADB-OECD. Dr. Zaman has chaired various academic research conferences at national and international level. He also serves as a reviewer for the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management (JHTM), Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services (JRCS), and the Sustainability journal.