THE RESILIENCE OF TRAVEL DEMAND: THE CASE OF EUROPEANS’ TRAVEL SENTIMENT DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The COVID-19 pandemic had a fundamental effect on travel and tourism in general, and travel sentiment in particular. Travel sentiment is an emotional expression that evaluates customer willingness to travel and is shaped by numerous factors. The current study explores the effects of COVID-19, vaccine rollout, and travel-related factors on the travel sentiment of Europeans from September 2020 to September 2021. Employing a quantitative approach, the study analyzed 54, 000 questionnaires collected in 10 European countries, measuring Europeans’ travel sentiment. In accordance with the study’s main assertion, it has been found that travel sentiment is highly adaptive and corresponds with both the disabling factor of COVID-19 cases and the enabling factor of vaccine rollout, demonstrating the adaptive and resilient nature of travel sentiment. In this view, travel sentiment demonstrates a high level of adaptive capacity, as can be found in complex systems with high levels of resilience. The study contributes to the emerging discussion on tourism resilience and the resilience of travel demand, placing travel sentiment in the context of tourism resilience theory.