Prediction of tourists' intention toward domestic vs international destinations in post-COVID-19 recovery: the role of COVID-19, future anxiety and solidarity

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate, upon taking into consideration both symmetric and asymmetric effects, how the economic and psychological impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, solidarity and future anxiety affect travel intention and the willingness to support a destination (WSD). Furthermore, the study sheds light on whether these relationships vary between domestic and international destinations.Design/methodology/approachThe data are collected from 379 potential tourists. To detect and analyze the symmetrical and asymmetric effects, the covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) and the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) are employed, respectively.FindingsIt is observed that, whereas only the effects of solidarity on travel intention and WSD differ in the CB-SEM, the fsQCA results include different recipes for the two groups.Originality/valueThere has not been much research done yet on the influence of future anxiety on tourists' decisions. Furthermore, it has not been thoroughly investigated whether solidarity has a different function for destinations within and outside of the country. In this respect, the study of both symmetric and asymmetric effects represents an important contribution to the literature.