Can destination marketing capitalise on health management?

There is limited research on which type of marketing messages tourism destinations should use in promoting a reduced risk to visitors' health. The aim of this paper is to analyse if and how communicating successful health management during a health crisis increases the attractiveness of a tourism destination in the recovery stage. The study applied a randomised experimental design to test the effectiveness of different marketing messages on international tourists' visit intentions at the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study surveyed 509 potential tourists from Singapore, Malaysia, India, UK and New Zealand regarding their intention to visit Western Australia after the COVID-19 induced border closures had ended in 2022. The results show that, depending on tourist characteristics, intention to visit was increased with communicating the destination's health performance, vaccination rates, and a complimentary travel insurance. The findings hence suggest that factual safety-centred marketing communication can support tourism destinations in the recovery from a health crisis. This implies that tourism marketers should consider the possibility to communicate competences and successes in health management proactively to tourists. • Advertising effective health management can increase destination attractiveness. • This effect depends on the information that is included into the communication. • It also depends on tourists' attributes: susceptibility and a-priori confidence. • Style variations (gain or loss framing) do not make a difference. • Offering complimentary health insurance has an even stronger impact.