EMPLOYING PATRIOTISM AND NATIONALISM IN DESTINATION CRISIS COMMUNICATION STRATEGY FOR THE PANDEMIC

Abstract

This research primarily aims to investigate the implementation of patriotism and nationalism crisis communication strategies when destination marketers wish to attract domestic tourists to resume their travel consumption following the COVID-19 pandemic. The focal point of the investigation is to explain the mechanisms occurring in potential domestic tourists after communication via this strategy. The research objectives were set to test the causal relationships among destination reputation, trust, intentions to conduct secondary crisis communication, and visit intentions. Data were gathered from 546 potential Thai tourists via a survey questionnaire, with Phuket, Thailand, selected as the crisis scenario. Findings were analyzed via structural equation modeling and suggest that only trust positively impacts intentions to conduct secondary crisis communication. In contrast, visit intentions were positively affected by multiple influential factors (i.e., destination reputation, trust, and intentions to conduct secondary crisis communication). The findings yield suggestions on how to design and enhance the patriotism and nationalism messages to ensure a high level of visit intentions and intentions to conduct secondary crisis communication, for concerned practitioners who are responsible for destination marketing in the post-pandemic time when domestic tourists have become one of the primary and crucial target customers.