No abstract

Restarting the mass tourism industry relies on the success of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign which requires individuals' voluntary participation to reduce health risks to hosts and visitors. This study identifies segments of Italian residents based on vaccine confidence at the early stage of a voluntary mass vaccination programme. Using a survey held with 3893 Italian residents, two COVID-19 vaccine confidence clusters were identified. These clusters were compared and revealed significant differences in response and self-efficacy, vaccine adoption, travel behaviour and involvement in the tourism industry.

In addition to being formally defined as a pandemic, COVID-19 has been classified as an “infodemic” and “(mis)infodemic.” As an “infodemic,” the information environment on COVID-19 is constantly evolving, with emerging scientific findings, political responses, media coverage, and individual impressions all shared on social media. Initial positions on behaviors and potential treatments were presented and then discarded because of low efficacy or improper research procedures. Further, there has been a fragmented geopolitical response with differing political systems exhibiting varying approaches to decision making and health outcomes, which has lead to confusion of the public. As a “misinfodemic,” COVID-19 discussions have also attracted actors seeking to share misinformation enabled and exacerbated by social media networks, which include willful distortions as well as conspiracy theories. Combined, this (mis)infodemic can change risk perceptions of travel, resulting in travel patterns based on technological, regulatory, and perceived behavioral homophily.

No abstract

Resident attitudes towards tourism are well researched, but related approaches vary. Social Representations (SR), a set of ideas, values, knowledge and explanations forming the social reality of a community, are one of the most misunderstood concepts in regard. This study demonstrates a practical way to identify, characterize and understand SR through a proposed multiple-mixed-method approach, taking the case of Vietnamese residents' attitude towards Chinese tourism in Vietnam. Cluster analysis, member-checking interviews and expert interviews are combined for this purpose. Findings show that attitude clusters within the study population are heavily intertwined with relevant SR of Chinese tourism. The method offered permits a contextual understanding of SR, providing a better comprehension of historical and socio-political factors for resident studies. It is thus hoped that the proposed method opens the door for a better understanding of the social psychology of residents, but also of other stakeholders and groups of interest.