The study finds that crisis communication emphasising shared emotional responses to risks enables tourists to humanise the hotel, which can subsequently create an emotional attachment. This attachment can then increase tourists’ intentions to visit once the crisis ends, which is crucial if the industry is to recover.
Researchers from the Universities of East Anglia (UEA), Bath and West of England say their findings challenge the approach that dominates many hotels’ current COVID-19 communication, which is to focus on cancellation policy and commitment to cleanliness.
