Post-pandemic dark tourism in former epicenters

Abstract

As one of the first studies to explore the joint consumption of both leisure and pandemic-related tourism products in former pandemic epicenters, this research expands the scope of dark tourism to include former pandemic epicenters. The motivational determinants of intention to visit leisure and pandemic-related sites are empirically identified using an ordered logit model. This is the first study which formally proposes patriotism as a new push motive in stimulating people to visit post-disaster destinations. The identified segmentations of tourists with different levels of push–pull motives and socio-demographic features provide key stakeholders and practitioners in former epicenters with a systematic recovery plan in the post-pandemic era.