Dr Fatima Wang, lead investigator and lecturer in marketing at London’s King’s Business School said post-Covid campaigns needed to take a different approach from normal.

Wang said that while it was recognised most tourists sought safe destinations, it was rare to see safety messages in promotional materials.

“Safety has become a paramount issue in today’s world and even more so in the aftermath of the Coronavirus. Our research was undertaken outside of the context of a health crisis and still found that safety messaging increased the likelihood of tourists booking a trip. 

“With this in mind, marketers, tourist boards and city governments should consider breaking from the norm of keeping safety messages out of their advertising”.

The research reveals tourists who are risk-averse and also those who are confident in their own decision-making and travel planning were more likely to be influenced by safety messaging. 

“Not everyone responds to overt safety messaging: travellers who do not care about risk are less influenced by it, for instance.  But destinations once typically regarded as safe may wish to consider this approach in order to woo new clientele.”