Travelers’ (in)Resilience to Environmental Risks Emphasized in the Media and Their Redirecting to Medical Destinations: Enhancing Sustainability

This research delves into the intricate dynamics of travelers’ decision-making processes, particularly their response to the media’s portrayal of environmental risks and the subsequent redirection of their travel choices toward medical destinations (MD). Employing a sophisticated research approach combining path analysis with moderation and multilinear logistic regression models, this study investigates the nuanced factors underlying travelers’ resilience to environmental risks and their propensity to opt for medical destinations. The results of the path analysis reveal a complex network of direct influences of factors from the PPM model (push, pull, and mooring) on choosing a medical destination in the sense that, before moderation, the only significant direct effect on the intention to choose medical destination (MD) was the pull factors. Through moderation, a significant effect of all three factors was achieved, while the direction of influence was changed in the case of push and pull factors. Furthermore, the multinomial logistic regression showed that the respondents prefer to go to a medical destination rather than a rural or urban one after the media emphasis on environmental risks. By integrating these analytical approaches and models, this research advances our understanding of how travelers navigate their choices amid environmental uncertainty. Furthermore, this research sheds light on the pivotal role that these traveler choices play in shaping the sustainability of medical destinations, offering essential insights for stakeholders, policymakers, and researchers navigating the evolving landscape of these destinations.