Original Scientific Article
Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
on Destination Image and Intention to Visit
Ali Ghasemian Sahebi
Tarbiat Modares University, Iran
alighasemiansahebi@modares.ac.ir
Rahil Kordheydari
Tarbiat Modares University, Iran
k.rahil@modares.ac.ir
Mohammad Aghaei
Tarbiat Modares University, Iran
m_aghaei@modares.ac.ir
Tourismhas been one of themost dynamically developing sectors of the world econ-
omy in recent years, yet the emergence of the covid-19 virus crisis has led to a reces-
sion in the industry, making managing this crisis essential. Thus, the study was con-
ducted to examine the effect of the perception of covid-19 crisis management on
destination brand image and, ultimately, the intention to select a tourist destination,
and carried out by explaining the role of brand personality and tourists’ attitudes to-
wards the destination. This research used the descriptive approach and quantitative
data collection with applied purpose. Tehran was the spatial domain of the study,
with all those (domestic and foreign) visiting Tehran as tourists from July 2020 to
April 2021 as the population of the study. The Available Sampling Method was used
and the data collection tool was a questionnaire. Finally, 768 complete question-
naires were collected and the hypotheses were analysed using structural equation
modelling (sem) in amos and spss. The results revealed that although cities and
tourist destinations are lifeless elements, tourists often consider them to have per-
sonality and human characteristics. The results showed that covid-19 crisis man-
agement positively and significantly affected the destination image and ultimately
the intention to visit the destination. Ultimately, some suggestions were made that
could be used as a route for tourism destinations to tackle the crisis of tourist attrac-
tion in the post-covid-19 period.
Keywords: perception of covid-19 crisis management, destination image,
destination brand personality, tourist attitude, intention to visit
https://doi.org/10.26493/2335-4194.15.291-305
Introduction
The outbreak of the covid-19 virus, a subgroup of the
coronavirus, beginning in December 2019 in Wuhan,
China, spread around theworld in less than twomonths,
endangering the health and lives of millions of people.
Moreover, it has led to global changes with a signifi-
cant effect on the daily lives of citizens as well as the
global economy (unwto, n.d.). For instance, tourism
in many countries has virtually ceased and travel has
stopped.
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Ali Ghasemian Sahebi et al. Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
At the same time, after presenting discussions about
the covid-19 crisis, countries should not overlook
other critical elements for tourists. The construction
of a tourism destination image is primarily impor-
tant because ‘it is impossible for tourists to experience
the desired holiday prior to a visitation, leading the
way for imagery to become an essential element to
inspire and to influence them during the decision-
making process,’ stated Matos et al. (2015, p. 135). In
fact, the destination image positively influences the
intention to visit it (Marine-Roig, 2019). As ‘potential
tourists with limited knowledge of destinations de-
pend on their perceived image of a destination when
it comes to making choices’ (Blazquez-Resino et al.,
2016), the question that taxes the minds of destination
marketers is to know why people travel to a particular
destination andwhat comes tomindwhen a particular
destination name is mentioned (in terms of attributes)
(Tavares et al., 2020). Thus, creating a good image of
the destination for tourists could enhance the destina-
tion in many other factors. One of these new topics is
the destination’s personality, which raises many ques-
tions and ambiguities and has not yet been definitively
answered. The question that taxes researchers in this
regard is ‘What are the specific personality traits for
the destination?’ Although scholars argue that desti-
nation personality refers to human traits ascribed to
a destination, researchers exhibit many differences in
describing these traits. Additionally, it is tough to de-
scribe and measure the personality traits of the desti-
nation (Zhang et al., 2019, p. 391).
Intense competition between tourist destinations
requires the necessary resources to create a competi-
tive advantage. One of the key resources in this field
is the destination brand. Branding is the process by
which the adoption and use of a brand through differ-
ent marketing activities is created for customers and
businesses and by which the brand provides a compet-
itive advantage for tourist destinations (Frías-Jamilena
et al., 2018, p. 26; Aghaei et al., 2021a). In the covid-
19 crisis, one of the factors able to affect branding for
these purposes is crisis management, and the percep-
tion of covid-19 crisis management gives the cus-
tomer a sense of security. It can affect many of psycho-
logical and behavioural indicators. Customer knowl-
edge of and positive attitude towards a brand lead to
customer purchase behaviour. Positive brand percep-
tions make organizations stronger and have a consis-
tent advantage over competitors. Hence, many orga-
nizations look to shape and maintain a strong brand
name among their target audience (Dedeoğlu et al.,
2019, p. 221). For instance, 70of international tourists
visit just 10 countries. In other words, the other coun-
tries compete for 30 of the total international tourists
(Pike, 2009, p. 857; Clark, 2006, p. 15). Thus, the des-
tination must be unique to attract tourists (Murphy
et al., 2007, p. 8; Hosany et al., 2006, p. 640). Pos-
itive brand perceptions may make customers select
a destination they have not experienced previously
(Dedeoğlu et al., 2019, p. 218). Thus, the destinations
have to make significant efforts to develop effective
destination marketing strategies for their target mar-
kets (MansouriMoayyed et al., 2020).Destination per-
sonality is a significant element in creating a destina-
tion brand.Destination personality is derived from the
concept of brand name. In the marketing literature,
personality is a set of human characteristics ascribed
to a brand (Ghasemian Sahebi et al., 2018). An effective
brand increases its brand equity by having a consistent
set of traits that a specific consumer segment enjoys.
This personality is a qualitative value-add that a brand
gains in addition to its functional benefits. As such, a
brand personality is something to which the consumer
can relate (Zhang et al., 2019, p. 391).
As health is one of themain concerns ofmany pub-
lic and private sectors and a key element in selecting a
travel destination and the satisfaction of travellers and
tourists, so the spread of covid-19 has led to restric-
tions on travel and international trade. In other words,
this employment-generating industry has stopped and
many units and activities in the dependent chain are
affected (including accommodation, transportation,
food, entertainment complexes and other upstream
and downstream intermediaries) and their staff may
lose their jobs. This leads to a recession and regres-
sion of the developing industry and wider tourism in
the market (Agarwal and Helfat, 2009). The strategic
modernization of businesses operating in the indus-
try, along with the developments and changes result-
ing from this disease, is vital in the development and
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Ali Ghasemian Sahebi et al. Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
revival of the tourism industry considering its vulner-
ability to the covid-19 crisis. Inattention to effective
strategies to tackle this crisis in the tourism industry
will end in huge issues for companies and lead to the
destruction of active companies and severe damage to
the economies of countries.
Some studies have been done in this regard; for in-
stance, the study by Perić et al. (2021). This study is
among the first to provide a timely discussion within
tourism discourse about the impact of the perceived
risk to travel intentions during the covid-19 pan-
demic and it deepens the understanding of the rela-
tionship between the perceived risk and travel inten-
tions during an epidemic outbreak. The pca identi-
fied five categories of perceived risk that affect travel
intentions during the covid-19 pandemic, specifi-
cally: health risk, psychological risk, financial risk,
destination risk, and travel risk. Also, the aim of re-
search by Ahmad et al. (2020) was to analyse the fac-
tors influencing intention to visit and destination im-
age in post-covid-19 crisis recovery. The findings
demonstrated that physical factors are the main fac-
tors that influence tourists’ intention to visit. Addi-
tionally, destination image significantly affects inten-
tion to visit and significantly mediates the relationship
between the factors and intention to visit.
Overall, previous studies in this regard have fo-
cused more on the destination brand image (Stylidis,
2020; Kislali et al., 2020; Afshardoost & Eshaghi, 2020;
Woosnam et al., 2020; Dubois et al., 2020; Lee & Xue,
2020; Sahebi et al., 2022) and the effects of covid-
19 prevalence in the tourism industry (Ahmad et al.,
2020; Sigala, 2020; Sánchez-Cañizares et al., 2020;
Kock et al., 2020; Bakar & Rosbi, 2020; Perić et al.,
2021; Fotiadis et al., 2021). However, there is a lack of
research on the effects of the perception of covid-
19 crisis management and a need for examining the
destination image, the destination personality and the
intention to visit in this process. Thus, the study was
conducted to examine the effect of the perception of
covid-19 crisismanagement on the destination image
and destination selection for the tourist, considering
the important role of destination image components,
destination personality and tourist attitudes toward
the destination. The important point in the relation-
ship between variables and the conceptual model of
research is that in this study, we are not talking about
causality, but the different dimensions and criteria of
the same concept (destination image). Identifying the
factors affecting the tourist relationship with the desti-
nation and the results will help destination marketing
management employees to differentiate the destina-
tion better and guide the destination branding process
in a direction that establishes a strong emotional con-
nection and stability between the destination and the
tourist. The study findings could be used as a way for
tourism officials to overcome the covid-19 crisis and
re-boost the industry.
The rest of the study will consist of the theoreti-
cal foundations of the study and the presentation of
the study model. Then the results are analysed by ex-
plaining the method, and ultimately, conclusions and
the discussion are presented, and practical suggestions
are given.
Theoretical Background
Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
The covid-19 crisis (declared as a pandemic by who,
12 March 2020) has significantly impacted the global
economic, political, and socio-cultural systems (Sán-
chez-Cañizares et al., 2020). The crisis management
practices supporting the industry’s needs are chang-
ing as the pandemic continues (Aghaei et al., 2021b).
In the literature, several definitions of crisis have been
proposed. For example, Beirman (2011) defined a crisis
as an event or a set of circumstances that can damage
the reputation andmarketability of tourismbusinesses
or the entire destination. The tourism industry is ex-
tremely sensitive to crisis situations, as even minor
negative events can seriously affect tourism demand
and deteriorate tourism firms’ financial performance
(Kukanja et al., 2020).
The pandemic has created a ‘fertile’ new context
whereby tourism researchers can conduct research
with valuable end-user benefits. What is still lack-
ing is knowledge about how crisis can foster industry
change, how companies can convert this crisis disrup-
tion into transformative innovation and how to con-
duct research that can enable, inform and shape the re-
thinking and resetting of a new normal (Sigala, 2020).
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Ali Ghasemian Sahebi et al. Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
Therefore, researchers should examine and under-
stand the stakeholders’ lived and perceived covid-19
experiences as well as their consciousness, mindful-
ness, capabilities and willingness to understand and
act (pro-actively and re-actively) to the pandemic, as
all these can equally influence their image, attitudes,
behaviours and potential (Sigala, 2020; Aghaei et al.,
2021c). Therefore, due to the importance of perception
of the destination, in this study, the effect of percep-
tion of crisis management on the intention to choose
a destination has been investigated.
Destination Image
SinceKimet al.’s (2018) foundational research, the con-
cept of destination image has drawn wide attention in
the tourism marketing literature (Akgün et al., 2020).
Destination image can be defined as all the cognitive
frameworks, perceptions, prejudices, and emotional
beliefs that an individual or group expresses regarding
a place (Cossío-Silva et al., 2018, p. 3). However, the
congruence between the induced image projected by
the destination and the organic image held by prospec-
tive visitors may vary substantially depending on the
destination, previous experiences and the sources that
have influenced visitor and prospective visitor per-
ceptions, particularly the Internet (Schofield et al.,
2020).
Fazli (2012) argues that destination image is a criti-
cal element for the development of successful tourism
and destination marketing. Establishing a strong des-
tination image is away to attract tourists (Fazli, 2012, p.
17). Indeed, destination image has a significant role in
predicting the behaviour of tourists (Kim et al., 2018, p.
91). Positive image has a significant effect on tourists’
visit to the destination andword ofmouth recommen-
dation (Dedeoğlu et al., 2019, p. 217).
Regarding this, Kim et al. (2018) have studied the
personality of the destination, the destination image
and the purpose of the trip. Their results indicate the
essential role of destination personality in image for-
mation. Also, Afshardoost and Eshaghi (2020), in a
study on destination image and tourist behavioural
intentions, find that destination image plays a signifi-
cant role in predicting tourists’ intentional behaviour,
in differentmagnitudes. Also, overall and affective im-
ages significantly impact behavioural intention, fol-
lowed by the cognitive image. Of the different di-
mensions of behavioural intentions, destination im-
age significantly impacts the intention to recommend
(Séraphin & Butcher, 2018).
Destination (City) Personality
Today, as the key to end-product homogeneity, brand
personality has been of wide concern, and its conno-
tation and denotation have been constantly expanded.
In this regard, the concept of brand personality has
been introduced into destination brandmarketing, ex-
cavating and refining the core genes that distinguish it
from other destinations, as well as finding emotional
and cultural elements that meet the needs of tourists.
American scholar Aaker (1997) defined brand person-
ality as ‘a series of personality characteristics related to
a certain brand’ based on the theoreticalmodel of ‘Five
Personalities’ in psychology (Shi, 2020).
Tourists prefer to assign human personalities for
tourism purposes and attribute human characteris-
tics to cities (Zhang et al., 2019, p. 391). Tourist des-
tinations use a combination of destination image and
destination personality as a strategy to differentiate
themselves from competitors (Ekinci &Hosany, 2006,
p. 130). To Ekinci and Hosany, the destination person-
ality has a key role in shaping the destination brand,
identifying tourist perceptions about various destina-
tions and creating a unique brand for the destina-
tion. The increase in competition between tourism
markets and the destinations’ efforts to stand out has
led to increasing attention to the destination per-
sonality. Rajabi (2018) argues that Spain is known as
a friendly and family destination, London as open-
minded, lively, and creative, and Paris as a roman-
tic city. Cities with cultural brand personalities are
Budapest, Prague, Vienna, Ankara, Cairo, Bangkok,
Washington, dc, Delhi, Bucharest, Sydney, and Mad-
rid. Some cities have an artistic city brand; these her-
itage cities include Venice and Oxford.
Conceptual Framework and Hypotheses
In this section, the relationship between variables in
this study is explained, and finally the hypotheses are
presented.
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The Relationship between the Destination Image
and the Destination Personality
Hosany et al. (2006) argue that there is a lot of am-
biguity in the relationship between brand image and
brand personality. According to them, modification
of brand image (destination) and brand personality
(for destination) has been used extensively in the lit-
erature (Ekinci & Hosany, 2006, p. 129). Ekinci and
Hosany also concluded that destination image is as-
sociated with the destination personality. Chen and
Phou’s (2013) results confirmed that destination im-
age affects the destination personality, corroborated by
Ekinci and Hosani (2006). Souiden et al. (2017) ex-
amined the effects of personality and destination im-
age on people’s attitudes and opinions. Their results
indicate that destination image affects the destination
personality. Nonetheless, Kim and Lee (2015) showed
that the city personalities (excitement, intimacy and
perfection) affect the three dimensions of the city im-
age (dynamic image, special image and stable image).
Apostolopoulou and Papadimitriou (2015) argue that
the destination personality (excitement and honesty)
has a significant effect on destination image. Kim and
Lee (2015) and Souiden et al. (2017) showed the effect
of destination image on destination personality.
The Attitude and the Effect of the Destination Image
and Destination Personality on the Tourists’ Attitude
In the tourism literature, the relationship between eco-
nomic profitability and regular tourists, enhancement
of positive tourist attitudes, and repeat visitation has
been discussed in many studies (Marinkovic et al.,
2014; Kim et al., 2013; Song et al., 2012). There are
some studies in the tourism literature (Choo et al.,
2016; Song et al., 2012) which have examined attitude
as one of the predictors of tourist intention to visit
(Hasan et al., 2019).
Tourists’ attitudes describe the psychological ten-
dencies expressed by their positive or negative assess-
ments. Indeed, tourist attitude is a predictor variable of
the tourist’s decision to travel to a specific destination
(Jalilvand & Samiei, 2012, p. 593). International trade
and marketing literature shows that people’s overall
perception of a destination image affects people’s eval-
uation of and visits to a tourist destination. The find-
ings of Usakli and Baloglu (2011), Kim and Lee (2015),
and Souiden et al. (2017) show the effect of tourism
destination personality on tourist attitudes. In other
words, destination image can have a significant role in
the decision-making process of international tourists
and their loyalty (Chaulagain et al., 2019, p. 2). Addi-
tionally, recent studies indicate a positive and signifi-
cant relationship between a positive image of the desti-
nation and tourists’ willingness to travel. Hence, a pos-
itive and valid understanding of the destination is es-
sential to attract tourists to that destination (Chaula-
gain et al., 2019, p. 1). Regarding this, Souiden et al.
(2017) studied the effects of personality and destina-
tion image on the attitudes and perspectives of indi-
viduals. Their findings indicate that destination image
is a precursor to the destination personality and affects
it, andhas a direct effect on attitudes towards a destina-
tion and an indirect effect on behavioural intentions.
Also, Sharifsamet et al. (2020), in a study on market-
ing destinations, researched the impact of destination
personality on consumer attitude, finding that destina-
tion personality and destination attitude are partially
related.
Intention to Visit and the Effect of the Image
and Destination Personality on the Intention
to Visit of Tourists
Consumers perceive satisfaction according to their
personal experiences of cognitive and effective assess-
ments of services/products (An et al., 2021). The be-
havioural component is usually inherent and commit-
ted, as the customer makes a decision and this deci-
sion ends in behaviour. Intention to visit is a percep-
tion felt by tourists to visit certain destinations in a
certain period (Ahn et al., 2013). Intention to visit is
also considered a mental process and a transforma-
tion from travel motivation into behaviour (Atmaja &
Lukito, 2021). Travel intention for tourists can be seen
by developing insights into issues such as attitudes or
perceptions of goals, with the primary key being to pay
attention to constraints and the perceived level of per-
sonal control over the resources needed to the achieve
targeted behaviour (Sparks & Pan, 2010).
From the consumption process perspective, tour-
ists’ behaviour is divided into three stages: before the
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Ali Ghasemian Sahebi et al. Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
trip, during and after the trip. Tourist behaviour in-
cludes selecting a destination to visit, subsequent eval-
uations, and the intention to revisit. Overall, sub-
sequent evaluations are perceived travel experience
or value and visitor satisfaction, whereas future be-
havioural intentions go back to the visitor’s judgment
of the destination, and the tendency to revisit the same
destination and recommend it to others (Shahin et al.,
2014, p. 89). For success in the tourism industry, one
has to examine tourists and their behaviours (Maleki
et al., 2015, p. 12).
Tourism literature has acknowledged the model of
the relationship between destination brand personal-
ity, self-congruity, and tourist behavioural loyalty (e.g.
intention to visit) (Yang et al., 2020). To illustrate, sev-
eral studies confirmed that destination brand person-
ality had a direct influence on tourists’ intention to
visit (Yang et al., 2020; Apostolopoulou & Papadim-
itriou, 2015; Chen & Phou, 2013; Eisend & Stokburger-
Sauer, 2013; Usakli & Baloglu, 2011).
Several studies centred on the relationship between
city image and preference or intention to visit (Jalil-
vand & Samiei, 2012; Moon et al., 2011). The initial im-
age formation stage before the trip is the most impor-
tant phase in tourists’ city selection processes (Yang et
al., 2020).
Given the content expressed and significance of the
elements and relations examined in this study, the fol-
lowing hypotheses are proposed:
h1 Perception of covid-19 crisis management has
a positive and significant effect on the destina-
tion image.
h2 The destination image has a positive and signif-
icant effect on the personality of the destination.
h3 The destination personality has a positive and
significant effect on the attitude towards the des-
tination.
h4 Attitude towards the destination has a positive
and significant effect on the intention to choose
the destination.
h5 Perception of covid-19 crisis management has
a positive and significant effect on destination
selection.
The important point in the relationship between
Covid-19
crisis man-
agement
Intention
of choosing
destination
Destination
image
Destina-
tion brand
personality
Tourist
attitude
H5
H2 H3
H1 H4
Figure 1 The Study Conceptual Model
variables and the conceptual model of research is that
in this study we are not talking about causality, but
only about the different dimensions and criteria of the
same concept (destination image). In fact, we are talk-
ing here about the relationship between a whole and
its components and discussing it to determine the fac-
tors associatedwith the destination image that have re-
ceived less attention in previous research and to deter-
mine its impact on destination selection.
Methodology
The study was conducted to examine the effect of the
perception of covid-19 crisis management on des-
tination image and the intention to visit the tourist
destination by explaining the role of destination per-
sonality and tourists’ attitudes towards the destination.
This research used the descriptive approach and quan-
titative data collection with applied purpose. Tehran
was examined as the spatial territory of the study and
all people (domestic and foreign) visiting Tehran as
tourists from July 2020 to April 2021 were the popula-
tion of the study. The Available SamplingMethod was
used and the sample size was obtained usingCochran’s
formula for an infinite population. In this formula, the
most important parameter to be estimated is S2, which
is the variance of the prototype. To calculate S2, 30 pilot
questionnaires were distributed and then the variance
of the pilot was calculated and the value was 0.0248.
The data collection tool was a questionnaire with
closed questions using a Likert scale. The minimum
sample size of 381 was determined in the study, assum-
ing a 95 confidence level. Besides face-to-face dis-
tribution, the questionnaire was distributed in many
sites of natural, historical and man-made tourist at-
tractions in Tehran, such as Golestan Palace, Nature
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Park, BotanicalMuseumGarden, EramPark,Museum
of Ancient Iran, and the National Jewelry Museum in
Tehran. To collect the data, the research questionnaire
was prepared both online and offline, and the link to
the online questionnairewas placed on the tourist des-
tinations sites for tourists to complete them. Also, the
printed questionnaires were distributed in person at
these destinations, and answers were collected. Ulti-
mately, 768 complete questionnaires were collected to
ensure the results, of which 632 were online and 136
sampleswere collected in person. The hypotheseswere
analysed using sem in amos and spss.
The questionnaire in this research consisted of 6
variables and 25 questions. For questions related to
the perception of covid-19 crisis management, the
research of Seyedin et al. (2016) was used with correc-
tions. Also, the destination image variable from Af-
shardoost and Eshaghi (2020), the destination brand
personality from Rutelione et al. (2018), the tourist at-
titude from Liu et al. (2018), and the intention to select
the destination from Hassan and Hemdi (2016) were
used.
In this study, 30 questionnaires were distributed
among themembers of the population. First, the valid-
ity of the questionnaires was confirmed with the opin-
ions of experts, and then it was distributed among the
population to confirm the validity and initial reliabil-
ity; they were also asked to express their opinions and
suggestions in the field of items. After review, correc-
tion and the final approval of experts, a questionnaire
was distributed among the sample members. Further-
more, confirmatory factor analysis was used for con-
struct validity. The reliability of the study was calcu-
lated by calculating Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and
combined reliability.
Results
In this section, Table 1 first summarizes the demo-
graphic information of the samples. Then the reliabil-
ity and validity of the tool and the results of model fit
analysis and testing of hypotheses are explained.
Based on Table 1, the highest percentage of sam-
ple members in each variable were males (62), age
25 to 45 years (67), with an undergraduate education
(39) and most people (55) were domestic tourists
Table 1 Demographic Information of Sample Members
Demographic variable/options () ()
Gender Male  
Female  
Age Under  years  
 to  years  
 to  years  
Over  years  
Education Less than bachelor’s  
Bachelor’s degree  
Master’s degree  
PhD and above  
Continent Asia (Iran)  
Asia (excluding Iran)  
Europe  
Africa  
America  
The most im-
portant factor
in choosing a
tourist desti-
nation (after
the corona
outbreak)
Destination health and
covid- control
 
Low cost  
Variety of tourist places  
Access and proximity to
the destination
 
Other factors  
Notes Column headings are as follows: (1) frequency, (2)
percentage.
from Iran. The key element for selecting a tourist des-
tination in the period after the outbreak of covid-19
is the health of the destination and control of covid-
19 (50).
First, the factor loadings associated with the mea-
sured indices in each latent variable (visible variables)
is examined. As is seen, the factor loading of all items
is greater than 0.7. Two indices are used to evaluate
the model reliability: (a) Cronbach’s alpha coefficient,
and (b) Combined reliability (cr). As Tables 2 and 3
show, all the variables have Cronbach’s alpha and cr
greater than 0.7, implying the existence of reliability in
the main variables of the study.
Two criteria have been used to evaluate the valid-
ity of the measurement model. The first criterion is
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Ali Ghasemian Sahebi et al. Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
Table 2 Cronbach’s Alpha Results (Prototype Stage)
Research variables () ()
covid- crisis management  .
Destination image  .
Destination personality  .
Attitude to the destination  .
Intention to visit (destination selection)  .
Notes Column headings are as follows: (1) number of ques-
tions, (2) Cronbach’s alpha results.
convergent validity and the second is divergent valid-
ity. The results of estimating the average variance ex-
tracted (ave) show that all values are higher than 0.5
and the convergence validity of the study is confirmed.
The study of the relationship between the squared
variance squared with the mean correlation has been
used in the study to show the divergent validity, the
results of which are shown in Table 3.
After ensuring the acceptability of the measure-
ment model in the developed structural model, the
process of path analysis with the latent variables is
stated in this section to examine the structural re-
lationships between the variables. As Table 4 shows,
the fitting results of the model show that the model
has the desired fit. Furthermore, the R2 value of the
dependent variables ‘destination image,’ ‘destination
personality,’ ‘attitude’ and ‘intention to visit’ discussed
in this model, is more than 1.0 and desirable. In other
words, for the dependent variable ‘destination image,’
the effect of the independent variable (Perception of
covid-19CrisisManagement) is 0.272 (27.2) and the
effect of other latent variables not visible in this model
but affecting the results and ‘destination image’ is 0.728
(72.8). Furthermore, the R2 of ‘destination personal-
ity,’ ‘attitude’ and ‘intention to visit’ are 11.6, 10.2
and 29.6, respectively. In other words, the power of
the study in measuring the variables affecting the de-
pendent variable and the outcomes is desirable.
The results of the path coefficient of ‘Perception of
covid-19 crisis management on the destination im-
age’ show that the value of P is less than 0.01 and the
value of the critical ratio (12.091) for this path is more
than 1.96, by which one can state that the effect of per-
ception of covid-19 crisis management on the des-
tination image is significant at the 99 level. It has to
be stated that the standardized factor loading value for
this path is 0.509 and positive, showing the positive ef-
fect of the prevalence of covid-19 on the destination
image. Table 4 shows that the value of P for the path
‘destination image to destination personality’ is less
than 0.01 and the value of the critical ratio (6.418) con-
firms the significance of this path. The standardized
factor load value for this route is 0.343. Furthermore,
the value of P for the path coefficient ‘destination per-
sonality to the tourist attitude’ is less than 0.01 and the
value of the critical ratio (5.877) confirms the signifi-
cance of this path coefficient; The amount of standard-
ized factor load for this route is 0.322. Like the previous
three paths, the significance of the attitude path to the
destination intention to visit is confirmed by consid-
ering the value of P and the value of the critical ratio
(9.117). The value of factor loading in this path is 0.496
and, considering the positive standardized factor load-
ing, one can conclude that attitude has a positive ef-
fect on behavioural intention.Ultimately, the results of
the path coefficient of ‘Perception of covid-19 crisis
management on the intention to visit the destination’
show that the value of P is less than 0.01 and the value
of the critical ratio (14.825) for this path is more than
1.96. It can be said that the effect of the perception of
covid-19 crisis management on the intention to visit
is 99 significant. Considering these values, one can
state that the standardized factor loading value for this
path is 0.532 and positive, showing the positive effect
of the perception of covid-19 crisis management on
the intention to visit the destination. The test results
of the hypotheses testing and the path coefficient are
shown in Table 4 and Figure 2. The results of testing
the hypotheses in sem showed that all 5 hypotheses,
as stated in this study, has been confirmed with a 99
confidence level.
Discussion and Conclusions
Attention to the tourism industry as an important
source of income has increased in many countries in
recent years. Thus, as competition increases, the des-
tination outperforming the others in branding will be
more successful. Considering the changing tastes of
298 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Ali Ghasemian Sahebi et al. Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
Table 3 Results of Confirmatory Factor Analysis
Main variables Items Standard operating load cr ave α
Perception
of covid-
crisis man-
agement
The covid- crisis makes me feel insecure. . . . .
I feel safe in Tehran against the covid- virus. .
I feel that the covid- virus has been tackled in Tehran. .
After this crisis, I only visit cities that are healthy in terms of the virus. .
covid- crisis control and management is effective in my visit to Tehran. .
Destination
personality
In Tehran, I feel like I belong to the upper social class. . . . .
I feel that Tehran is unique. .
Tehran has a friendly and intimate feeling for me. .
You can have a sense of warm relations with Tehran. .
Tehran is up to date (modern). .
Tehran is attractive to me. .
Tehran is desirable and lovable. .
Tehran is a leader in everything. .
Tehran is reliable. .
Destination
image
Tehran is a beautiful place. . . . .
Tehran has good infrastructure (roads, service communications, etc.). .
Tehran is a good place for business. .
Tehran has a developed industry. .
Tehran is a safe place to invest. .
Tehran has a high standard of living. .
Tehran offers enjoyable recreational activities. .
Tehran is socially and culturally diverse. .
Attitude I love Tehran. . . . .
I have a positive opinion about Tehran. .
Visiting Tehran is a good decision. .
Behavioural
intention
(intention
to visit)
I was waiting to see Tehran. . . . .
I was actively looking for information about Tehran. .
I had considered Tehran among my travel destinations. .
After visiting Tehran, I will probably visit Tehran again. .
I will definitely travel to Tehran. .
I will suggest a trip to Tehran to others. .
Model χ2 df p tli ifi cfi rmsea χ2/df
Measurement model .  . . . . . .
Acceptable values – – – >. >. >. <. –
tourists and the outbreak of the covid-19 virus, the
revival of the tourism industry has become an impor-
tant and critical issue for countries, so that the man-
agement of this crisis has become a current topic in
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 299
Ali Ghasemian Sahebi et al. Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
Table 4 Results of the Main Structural Equation Model
Path () () () () () ()
Crisis management of covid- in the destination image . . . . . .
Destination image on the destination personality . . . . . .
Destination personality on attitude towards the destination . . . . . .
Attitude to the destination on the intention to visit . . . . . .
Perception of covid- crisis management on intention to visit . . . . . .
Notes Column headings are as follows: (1) standardized factor load, (2) not standardized factor load, (3) standard error,
(4) critical ratio, (5) p, (6) R2. Model fit values: rmse = 0.047, cfi = 0.937, ifi = 0.937, tli = 0.930, P = 0.001, df = 295,
χ2 = 856.8, χ2/df = 2.894.
Table 5 Test Results of Hypotheses in Structural Equation Model
Path Standardized factor loads results Result
() () () () ()
Crisis management of covid- in the destination image .** – .** – – Conf.
Destination image on the destination personality .** – – .** – Conf.
Destination personality on attitude towards the destination .** – .* .* .* Conf.
Attitude to the destination on the intention to visit .** .** .** .** .** Conf.
Perception of covid- crisis management on intention to visit .** .** .** .** .** Conf.
Notes Column headings are as follows: (0) the original model, (1) alternative model one, (2) alternative model two, (3)
alternative model three, (4) alternative model four.
Covid-19
crisis man-
agement
Intention
of choosing
destination
Destination
image
Destina-
tion brand
personality
Tourist
attitude
0.532
0.343 0.322
0.509 0.496
Figure 2 The Results of Hypothesis Testing
most countries. As a country with high tourism po-
tential, Iran has faced this crisis, too. The previous
studies in this regard have been carried out more on
the brand image of the destination and the effect of
the prevalence of covid-19 in the tourism industry,
and the lack of studies on the effects of perception of
covid-19 crisis management and destination image,
destination personality and intention to visit in this
process is felt. The study tried to fill the gaps expressed.
Thus, the study examines the effect of covid-19 crisis
management on the destination image and the inten-
tion of the tourist to select a destination within the
tourist destination of Iran (Tehran). The data was col-
lected from tourists using a questionnaire and anal-
ysed using amos and spss. The results can enhance
the awareness of tourism industry officials of the fac-
tors affecting the choice of destination, and the prac-
tical suggestions could be used as a way for travel des-
tinations to exit the crisis of tourist attraction in the
post-covid-19 era.
Overall, no previous studies have been carried out
that meticulously examine the effect of perception of
covid-19 crisis management on intention to visit by
considering the effect of the factors in this study. How-
ever, the results of the hypotheses of this study are
compared with the most relevant studies in the past.
The results revealed that although tourist destina-
tions and cities are lifeless elements, tourists usually
consider them to have personality and human char-
acteristics. According to the first hypothesis, crisis
management of covid-19 has a positive and signif-
icant effect on the destination image. In fact, with the
300 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Ali Ghasemian Sahebi et al. Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
prevalence of covid-19 and the differences between
countries regarding their success rate in combating
the virus, the mental image of tourists has been neg-
ative towards the countries with more infections and
more positive towards the ones with fewer infections;
a country able to manage this crisis creates a better
image of itself. The results of the first hypothesis are in
line with those of Ahmad et al. (2020), Yu et al. (2020),
and Abbaspour et al. (2020). The results regarding the
second hypothesis showed that destination image has
a positive and significant effect on the personality of
the tourist destination. Tourism industry officials and
decision makers must pay special attention to brand-
ing for all cities with tourism potential. The results of
a study revealed that branding cost a city like Glas-
gow about 3 million pounds. It generated 42 million
pounds in revenue. In other words, for every dollar
spent on branding, the city generates $ 12.72 in revenue
in the city of Glasgow. This result is in line with those
of Kim and Lee (2015), Doosti et al. (2016), Souiden et
al. (2017), and Yang et al. (2020). Furthermore, the re-
sults on the third hypothesis of this study showed that
the personality of the tourist destination has a positive
and significant effect on attitudes towards the desti-
nation. These are in line with those of Kim and Lee
(2015), Souiden et al. (2017), Doosti et al. (2016), Yang
et al. (2020) and Sharifsamet et al. (2020). The fourth
hypothesis indicates that the attitude of tourists to-
wards the destination has a positive and significant ef-
fect on the intention to select and visit the tourist des-
tination. In other words, when the attitudes of tourists
towards a tourist destination improves, their intention
to visit the destination is strengthened, too. Destina-
tion personality attributes human personality traits to
a tourist destination. The results of this hypothesis are
in line with those of Chung et al. (2015), Doosti et al.
(2016), Yang et al. (2020), Afshardoost and Eshaghi
(2020), and Nechoud et al. (2021). Ultimately, the re-
sults of the fifth hypothesis showed that covid-19 cri-
sis management has a positive and significant effect on
the intention to select and visit a tourist destination.
Thus, in the era of covid-19, the health of the destina-
tion can have a key role in creating destination image.
A destination with less prevalence of covid-19 and
with crisis management of the virus will be more reli-
able than the destination with more prevalence of the
virus. The results of this hypothesis are in line with
those of Sánchez-Cañizares et al. (2020), Ioannides
and Gyimothy (2020), Han et al. (2020), Ahmad et al.
(2020), and Perić et al. (2021).
Considering the results, city officials should con-
trol and manage the covid-19 crisis and increase the
health of their city as the most important factor in
choosing tourist destinations in the covid-19 era, in
order to get out of the tourist decline crisis in this pe-
riod. As a tourism city can be considered as a brand
consisting of tangible and intangible characteristics,
tourism marketers must use this feature and focus
more on informing tourists about the health of the
destination and creating a positive mindset about the
health of the city and improving the image of the city,
to brand and expand their desired tourism destina-
tions. During the covid-19 crisis, they can capture
destination images by providing reliable statistics on
the number of cases and government efforts to con-
trol and manage the crisis of the virus and vaccinate
people, and by showing a healthy image of the city as
well as the physical characteristics of the destination
(beautiful scenery, beaches, parks, cultural events and
festivals, shopping facilities, friendly locals). The des-
tination personality can be characterized by character-
istics such as: attractive, modern, reliable, exciting, up
to date, friendly, cheerful. Marketers can use of these
characteristics to shape the attitude of tourists and,
by encouraging them, make their city a destination of
choice for tourists. Thus, the organizations in charge of
tourism (like Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, Tourism,
andMunicipality) can emphasize the historical, recre-
ational, business environment, and safe investment of
the city besides creating the city’s image in terms of
health as the key factor in this period.
The city personality has a significant role in the
success of tourism destinations. The studies showed
that a unique personality has been designed for all suc-
cessful tourism cities in the world today. For instance,
the city of Paris has a feminine brand, and the per-
sonality of this city is different from that of a city like
Berlin, which has a masculine personality. The brand
personality of cities like Tokyo, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur,
and Dubai is unique to them. Hence, it is essential
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 301
Ali Ghasemian Sahebi et al. Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
for all cities in a country to design a unique brand
personality. The brand personality of the city has to
encompass the history, architecture, climate, geogra-
phy and everything in the city. There is no doubt that
creating a brand personality for tourist cities is not a
choice but a necessity. The increase in the competition
between tourism markets and destinations trying to
stand out has led to more attention being paid to the
destination personality. The results revealed that the
concept of tourism city personality is used to describe
the characteristics of the city and differentiate tourist
destinations. Tourists are more likely to travel to cities
where they can identify themselves. Awareness of the
city brand is a key factor in visiting the destination and
increases interest in it.
The study identifies the efforts to control andman-
age the covid-19 crisis and show a safe and healthy
image of the city as the key element in attracting
tourists in this period, and encourages tourism mar-
keters to treat the image and destination personality
as a key predictor for tourists’ attitudes. Managers and
tourism marketing experts have to try to enhance the
subjective image of tourismdestinations for tourists by
increasing advertising and promotional activities. As
tourists’ attitudes have a direct effect on travel inten-
tions, it is recommended that tourism managers em-
phasize marketing activities and long-term strategies
rather than cross-sectional ones in creating a positive
tourist attitude. Additionally, it is suggested that the
experts andmanagers of tourism destinations try hard
to create a safe image of the city, and to show architec-
ture and tourist attractions in order for tourism cities
to improve and develop tourism. It also seems that
marketers and managers of recreational and tourism
destinationsmust focus on the key elements in attract-
ing tourists according to the target market segmenta-
tions and classify tourists based on characteristics like
novelty, diversity and other factors and, based on this,
formulate strategies to create a city brand to attract
tourists.
For future studies, it is suggested to study the eco-
nomic dimensions of the effect of covid-19 on the
tourist incomes of countries and identify the key fac-
tors for tourists in selecting a tourist destination in
the future and after control of the covid-19 virus. It
is suggested that the model and strategy of creating
a destination brand value be developed based on the
changing tastes of tourists after the covid-19 era. Ad-
ditionally, it is recommended that future studies ex-
amine the effect of other variables such as satisfac-
tion, loyalty, tourismbrand resonance, perceived qual-
ity of tourism, tourism destination identity, tourism
brand trust and sympathy and various other variables
on tourists’ attitudes and intention to visit.
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