Measuring the effect of outbound Chinese tourists travel decision-making through tourism destination image and travel safety and security

Based on theory of travel behaviour a survey was developed and implemented in Taipei, Taiwan to investigate outbound Chinese tourists’ travel decision-making in terms of destination attributes, as well as travel safety and security and destination image toward international travel. This study explored the effects of travel safety and security (TSS) via tourism destination image (TDI) as a mediator on travel decision-making (TDM) from the Chinese outbound tourists’ perspectives. A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted on the Chinese outbound tourists visiting Taipei’s prevalent tourism sites with 410 effective samples collected for analysis. This study concluded travel safety and security (TSS) impact on the tourism destination image (TDI) during the early travel decision-making (TDM) process. The results supported the hypotheses that travel safety and security (TSS) has direct and positive effects on travel decision-making (TDM) and that both travel safety and security (TSS) and tourism destination image (TDI) exert direct and positive effects on travel decision-making (TDM). Based on the findings, destination marketing organizations (DMOs) could develop proper tourism marketing and managerial strategies to enhance the destination attraction and competitiveness for the Chinese outbound tourists.