Xiong, LinaKnight, David W.Gong, JianZhou, Xuanxuan2024-04-262024-04-262022https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14394/49451<p>Dr. Lina Xiong is a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources at Colorado State University. Her research areas include internal branding, employee-based brand equity, and destination marketing. She is the director of US-China Tourism Lab for Destination Development and Wellbeing.</p> <p>Dr. David W. Knight is the co-Director of the U.S.-China Lab for Destination Development and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources at Colorado State University. His research explores community empowerment, poverty alleviation, and destination resilience in natural resource tourism contexts.</p> <p>Dr. Jian Gong is an associate Professor in Central China Normal University and executive Dean of China Tourism Academy-Wuhan Branch. His research explores Heritage community sustainability ,social deprivation, and COVID-19 impacted destination resilience and adaptation.</p> <p>XuanXuan,Zhou is a candidate in Master of Tourism management program in Central China Normal University. Her research explores tourist psychology and behavior patterns based on COVID-19 impacts.</p>Tourist decisions to resume travel to disaster-hit destinations (e.g., pandemic epicenters) represent a crucial but under-analyzed measure of tourism resilience. Addressing this gap, this study identifies patterns in actual return travel behavior to Hubei Province of central China (a former COVID-19 epicenter), focusing on Chinese tourists of differing gender, age and place of origin. Ticket sales from China’s largest online travel agency and long interviews were used to assess these travel recovery patterns in Hubei Province from April to July (2019 and 2020). Data suggested that middle-aged travelers (the 25-50 age group) and travelers from local and farther (as opposed to neighboring) areas were more likely to lead travel recovery in the region. The reasons behind these group distinctions were also revealed. These studies hold implications for effectively managing and theorizing tourism resilience and travel recovery in disaster-hit destinations.event