How does tourist perception lead to tourist hesitation? Empirical evidence from Bangladesh

The paper aims to identify the factors that cause prospective tourists’ hesitation to travel. The study also examines whether this relationship is mediated by the tourist perception in Bangladesh. The study is of quantitative design, and the relationships between tourist knowledge, tourist health risk, and destination personality with tourist hesitation were explored using a sample of 322 Bangladeshi prospective tourists. The three relationships were also examined through tourist perception. By using cross-sectional data, the researchers hypothesized that tourist knowledge, tourist health risk, and destination personality have a positive and significant effect on tourist hesitation. Besides, the researchers also hypothesized that tourist perception mediates the relationships between tourist knowledge, tourist health risk, and destination personality with tourist hesitation. In this respect, the Smart PLS 3.0 was employed to analyze the data. The results of the study confirm findings of previous related studies by not only highlighting the importance of tourist perception in shaping tourist hesitation but also indicating the way each dimension of tourism either enhances or inhibits the tourist hesitation. The results of the study also reveal a positive and significant relationship between tourist knowledge and tourist health risk with tourist hesitation. The analysis of data showed no conventional relationship between destination personality and tourist hesitation. Accordingly, this study identified the extent to which tourist perception mediates the relationship between tourist knowledge and destination personality with tourist hesitation. Meanwhile, the results of the study indicate the absence of any mediation role of tourist perception between tourist health risk and tourist hesitation. The study outcomes would encourage the government, policymakers, and tourism managements in creating a tailor-made responsiveness program by building a scenario that could offer more prominent sustainable tourism establishments. Besides, the results may assist stakeholders of tourist destinations in understanding tourist perception and the causes of tourist’s hesitation.