ABSTRACT
This study sheds light on consumer demand for air travel in the pandemic context by proposing and evaluating a model that combines the personal and third-party beliefs on travel intentions (Theory of Planned Behaviour), as well as the perceived level of threat and familiarity (Protection Motivation Theory). The model is evaluated with a sample of 381 respondents from Portugal, into two groups: travellers vs. non-travellers. Our results provide evidence that for both groups, self-efficacy and social influence are positively associated with the intention to fly. On the other hand, for non-travellers, attitudinal preferences are negatively driven by response cost and level of fear. For the COVID travellers, familiarity positively affects their attitude toward flying. This study contributes to a shift in the paradigm of tourism and can be used by airline companies and tourism operators, deepening the understanding of customer motivation for air travelling during the pandemic.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).