THE ROLE OF HEALTH AND SAFETY MEASURES IN RESTORING TOURIST CONFIDENCE A STATISTICAL STUDY OF TRAVELER SURVEYS AND BOOKING TRENDS

Abstract

Tourism as a global industry, has been affected by the downturn in health, especially through epidemics such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, which greatly influenced traveller loyalty and propensity to travel. This paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of health and safety measures in the restoration of traveller confidence in booking and travelling by administering a cross-sectional survey across 1500 individuals and quantifying the booking trend of several travel agencies and airlines. The results show a high positive correlation between safety measures and travel confidence (r = 0.82, p < 0.01), proving that safety measures such as hygiene protocols and vaccination policies, flexible cancellation policies have a significant impact on the travel market. The study also further notes that leisure travellers are more sensitive to health risks compared to business travellers, meaning that safety measures should adequately be developed depending on the type of traveller proposed. The findings pose meaningful implications for the policymakers, tourism industries, and tourists, representing the necessity for continued strengthening of the measures.