ABSTRACT

This study examines the relationship between perceived impacts of COVID-19, risk perceptions, emotions, and travel intentions within selected higher education institutions of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR). The paper argues that hospitality and tourism recovery strategies should focus on specific internal market segments by understanding their cognitive appraisal of the current situation, their emotional state, and possible responses to future travel. Through an online survey, data were gathered using convenience sampling of 412 respondents comprising students and workers of three Macau Higher Educational Institutions – which form a segment of Macau’s domestic tourism market. The results indicate that a high perceived risk of travelling during COVID-19 has increased negative emotions and reduced intentions to travel. Nonetheless, most students and workers of these institutions in Macau do not feel vulnerable to the virus due to the stringent health and policy measures in place. As government strict measures ‘protect’ internal customers within the city but ‘paralyse’ travel outside the city, promoting domestic travel becomes a practical way to reset tourism but would require understanding the perceptions and risk concerns of specific market segments.

摘要

本研究调查了澳门特别行政区 (SAR) 选定高等教育机构中 COVID-19 的感知影响、风险感知、情绪和旅行意图之间的关系。该论文认为，酒店和旅游恢复策略应通过了解他们对当前情况的认知评估、他们的情绪状态以及对未来旅行的可能反应，来关注特定的内部细分市场。通过在线调查，数据是通过对 412 名受访者的便利抽样收集的，这些受访者包括三所澳门高等教育机构的学生和工人，这些机构构成了澳门国内旅游市场的一部分。结果表明，在 COVID-19 期间感知到的高旅行风险会增加负面情绪并降低旅行意图。尽管如此，由于采取了严格的卫生和政策措施，澳门这些机构的大多数学生和工作人员不会感到容易感染病毒。由于政府采取严格措施“保护”城内的内部客户，但“瘫痪”城外的旅行，促进国内旅行成为重新调整旅游业的实用方法，但需要了解特定细分市场的看法和风险问题。