A virtual reality-based experiment on tourists’ choice of evacuation route

Abstract

With continuously increasing tourism volume, overcrowded tourist attractions pose a great challenge for tourists during emergency evacuations. This study investigates the factors that influence tourists' choice of evacuation routes in emergency scenarios characterized by high uncertainty, particularly on the role of crowd density. By employing discrete choice experiments through virtual reality, we analyzed the effects of crowd density and its interaction with various route characteristics through a binomial logistic regression model. Our results demonstrate that crowd density nonlinearly impacts tourists' evacuation route choices. Additionally, factors such as emergency evacuation signage and route familiarity moderate the relationship between crowd density and evacuation route choice. These findings provide critical insights into tourists' decision-making processes during emergency evacuations, thereby contributing to the formulation of more effective emergency management strategies.