Investigating staycation intention: the influence of risk aversion, community attachment and perceived control during the pandemic

The tourism literature has widely investigated the effect of tourists’ risk perceptions on their travel intention, but devoted less attention to what compels tourists to take a staycation. The intense risks of the COVID-19 pandemic provide an opportunity to clarify the psychological mechanisms that drive consumers’ intentions toward such experiences. This study examines whether the risk aversion felt during the pandemic is linked to staycation intention through community attachment, and whether this effect is contingent on individuals’ perception of control over COVID-19. The results from an online questionnaire, administered to a sample of 230 Italian participants, revealed that individuals’ risk aversion positively affected their attachment toward the local community, which in turn increased their intention to take a staycation. However, this path only held when participants reported low levels of perceived control over the COVID-19 disease. The findings elucidate a possible psychological mechanism behind staycation and shed light on this form of local tourism.