FACTORS OF TOURISTS’ PERCEIVED SAFETY IN THE POST COVID PERIOD: THE CASE OF OPATIJA RIVIERA

Purpose – The pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus left a significant negative mark on the world economy, and tourism industry. It has also significantly affected the perception and behavior of tourists when it comes to the safety of a tourist destination. To continue to record a positive recovery trend, destinations must undertake scientific and professional research, and based on the results consider and develop new development strategies for the development of tourism in the post-pandemic period. The perception of risk in tourists is changing, which ultimately has an impact on their future behavior when choosing a holiday destination. Opatija Riviera is a destination with a rich and long tourist tradition, which until before the pandemic was perceived as safe, as evidenced by the continuous growth of tourist turnover. The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the importance of monitoring whether and to what extent tourists perceive Opatija Riviera as a safe tourist destination and based on the findings to offer developmental guidelines for the post-pandemic period. Methodology – Data collection was conducted during June and July 2022, using an online survey questionnaire. 152 respondents agreed to participate in research. The basic measurement instrument was based on the Tourists’ Perceived Safety at Destinations (TPSD) scale developed by Xie et al. (2020b), i.e. initial items (25) proposed by these authors. To extract the dimensions of perceived tourist safety, the authors primarily used exploratory factor analysis. Findings – by using the exploratory factor analysis the following factors were identified: perception of safety of human elements (PSH), safety of facilities and equipment (PSFE), safety of natural environments (PSNE), perceived safety of social environments (PSSE) and safety of management elements (PSM). The results for PSH, PSFE, PSNE and PSSE have proven to be satisfactory in terms of how tourists perceive them as safe and reliable, which is not the case with the PSM. The f indings for PSM indicate the need for additional investments aimed towards improvement of protection of tourist´s safety (safety of the construction, safety of information and visibility of warning sign about security in Opatija Riviera). Originality of the research – this research contributes to the theory by presenting relevant literature content in safety perception in tourism. The empirical contribution derives from the fact that no similar research was conducted on Opatija Riviera until now. Its findings set the basis for future empirical research that will be conducted in the post-COVID period in Opatija Riviera, based on which it will be possible to plan further developmental activities aimed towards improving tourist´s safety during their stay.