The impact of electronic word of mouth and destination image perception on the decision to travel at Songkhla Old Town after COVID-19 situation

Abstract

          The purpose of this research was to analyze the impact of Electronic Word of Mouth (E-WOM) and destination image perception toward post-COVID-19 decision to travel to Songkhla Old Town. The sample consisted of 300 tourists from purposive sampling. A set of online questionnaires was used as a research instrument which measured on five-point Likert scales. The developed Structural Equation Model (SEM) consisted of 3 latent variables and 11 observed variables. The primary data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, and the goodness of fit of the model was assessed by using structural equation modeling. The results revealed that the measurement model accounted for construct reliability of 0.81-0.93 and average variance of 0.71-0.85. The SEM model was found to have a good fit for the empirical data (c²/df = 1.67, CFI = 0.92, RMR = 0.02, RMSEA = 0.04). The E-WOM affected the destination image perception and post-COVID-19 decision to travel with an effect size of 0.54 and 0.38 at a significant level of 0.05. Additionally, the destination image perception factor was found to affect post COVID-19 decision to travel to Songkhla Old Town with an effect size of 0.42 The research results can be used as guidelines for formulating tourism marketing communication strategies through social mediaby using influencers and focusing on the safe image of tourist attractions to encourage more decision-making to travel.