Impacto de la comunicación de crisis y de resiliencia en la imagen de destino y el comportamiento del turista

Resumen

Resilience communication is a fundamental tool for destinations to improve their image and recover after a crisis. Social media are key tools in tourism communication that generate tourist experiences and destination image, and at the same time, they play a fundamental role in times of crisis. Based on a series of hypotheses, a conceptual model of crisis or resilience communication management is proposed that responds to the need to establish a set of premises related to this type of communication in the tourism sector. This is an analytical empirical study consisting of a quantitative analysis using a questionnaire, the results of which are used to test the hypotheses proposed based on a structural equation model. The results highlight the importance of social media communication in relation to health risk perception (HRP). This impacts the perception of posts, the destination image, and behavior related to the destination (destination recommendation, DR, and intention to visit, VI). The four hypotheses that comprise the conceptual research model are confirmed, as the effects are statistically significant in the sample of posts, and the selected elements explain each of the factors. Specifically, it is verified that PHR negatively affects destination image (DI) and, mainly, the impression generated by the post (PI). Secondly, PI and DI mutually influence each other and covary to a certain extent. Furthermore, general DI, affected by PHR, in turn affects DR and VI, demonstrating that PHR through communication also negatively influences DR and VI. Finally, it is also found that both DR and VI are related and covary as intrinsic behavioral aspects related to DI. Resilience communication is a basic tool for destinations to improve their image and recover from a crisis. This research contributes to the literature on this transcendental issue by analyzing the impact of this type of communication on tourists, and specifically on destination image.