Towards an evolutionary paradigm of Consumer experience in tourism: the case of the luxury hotels in digital platforms in the Covid-19 context. [Hacia un paradigma evolucionario de la experiencia del consumidor en turismo: El caso de los hoteles de lujo en plataformas digitales en el contexto de Covid-19]

Problem statement

According to the world tourism organization, a 97% drop in tourism in the world is estimated, quantifying it in approximately 195 billion losses in the sector. Additionally, the world economy has been hit not only by confinements but also by different restrictions imposed by governments. Other factors that are related to this COVID-19 context are the decline in emerging markets and fluctuations in exchange rates, conditions that lead to exploring factors that help to overcome the current condition of the sector (Sikarwar, 2021). On the other hand, the probable scenarios that reflect the decline in the tourism sector were estimated, reaching -75% of the activity worldwide. Despite the above, the forecast for 2021 assumes a recovery in international demand, thus generating a cycle of recovery in domestic demand faster than in external demand (WTO, 2021).

Recently, there has been evidence of a need to understand consumption patterns in pandemic conditions, making use of the psychological and travel needs of consumers. According to the above, the condition generated by covid-19 has created instability in the economic activities of the countries, with deeper implications in the tourism sector (King, Iba & Clifton, 2021). In this way, a large part of the literature indicates that after high uncertainty conditions, dynamics characterized by their high volatility in the economy begin to generate. It is precisely in this type of economic behavior that is characteristic in sectors such as tourism; where a large part of travelers begins to postpone their plans in times characterized by high turbulence. This process is also known as the drop-rebound-overshoot effect, a process in which, even though productivity can increase in the long-term, in the medium term such growth could generate economic volatility (Bloom, 2009; Dragouni et al., 2016).

The questions that begin to be generated as a result of the pandemic are about the factors that will influence effective decision-making in pandemic conditions (Jin, Bao, and Tangc, 2021). In this way, the objective of this research is to understand the Covid-19 effect in the psychology and behavior of tourism consumers who make trips in the context of covid-19 using luxury hotels and using online platforms. It is important to note that the personal characteristic of travelers is heterogeneous, and they respond differently to contexts such as the current one. For this reason, it is necessary to identify demographic characteristics, but also personal that allow defining the most attractive segments to travel after a pandemic in an economic recession.

Justification

The hotel industry is a sector in great growth with rates that exceeded 3% by 2020 (Pedrini, & De Bernardi, 2020). In the same way, this sector has undergone a process of consolidation during the last decades considering the dynamics of the business and the changes in the market. Despite the above, it is a sector that continues to face great challenges, such as the search for personalized experiences (Deloitte Center for Industry Insights, 2017).

For Hotel's luxury sector like other sectors that focus on luxury products, (e.g., gastronomy), the main aspect is not only about providing experiences to business travelers and elite groups but also to other types of consumers including domestic tourists in this kind of experience (Andrieu and Batat, 2019; Batat, 2021). On the other hand, authors such as Lee, Min & Yuan (2021), pointed out that there is a need to research the way in which the platforms are used to make reservations in luxury hotels. Additionally, is necessary to analyze the generational characteristics of their use and the broad spectrum of opinion and conflicts found in performance compared to other hotel categories (Carlbäck, 2016). In the same way, the need to understand the factors that lead a person to make a decision booking in luxury hotels in pandemic conditions is generated.

A theory that allows an approach to the analysis of the current context in tourism is evolutionary psychology (Kock, Nørfelt, Josiassen, Assaf & Tsionas, 2020). This perspective allows us to explain how human behavior generates an adaptation mechanism and the fundamental reasons for it. Additionally, the perspective suggests that there is a distinction between proximate motives and ultimate motives that influence behavior. A proximate motive of behavior corresponds to an immediate behavior style generated by a stimulus while an ultimate motive is one that is related to the ability to survive. Although the two motives allow us to explain behavioral motives, it is the second that allows us to identify an adaptation function (Beatty, 1994). In this way, the ultimate motive is the one that considers the questions of why a behavior exists. Most part of the literature has focused on proximate motives due to the need to investigate how certain types of behaviors are generated. According to the above, it can be found that there is a gap in the type of studies that allows explaining the reasons that lead people to take certain types of behaviors (Kock, Josiassen & Assaf, ).

In this manner, the effort must be focused on identifying how the theory can contribute to creating mechanisms that allow adaptation to the new conditions generated in the Covid-19 pandemic. Although economic factors could be taken for granted, there are elements of a psychological nature that is fundamental to understand in tourism (Kock, Nørfelt, Josiassen, Assaf & Tsionas, 2020). This allows not only researchers but also the industry to consider key factors that can give ways to face the crisis caused by the pandemic. In this way, it is important through a theoretical approach not only to carry out descriptive processes but also elements that transcend the current condition. Additionally, is fundamental to outline several factors that will determine the dynamics of tourism in the future (Zenker & Kock, 2020).