With the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic, health risks are common, while trepidation over physical harm risks during travel has emerged, notably anti-Asian violence. Tourists tend to avoid traveling, and their perceived risks related to these harms may hinder their travel decision-making. This research aims to explore the inter-relationships among destination image, perceived risk perceptions, and behavioral intention of Chinese international students visiting San Francisco. Drawing from 252 survey responses, findings highlighted that perceived risk did not affect destination image in general; however, the levels of student traveller’s perceived risk influence the destination image’s relationship to behavioral intentions. The group with low perceived risk relies more on their affective image to determine their behavioral intention. Furthermore, this study validated that affective image could serve as the antecedent to cognitive image despite being firmly held as the cognitive image’s consequence. Managerial implications were provided for destination marketers in the post-pandemic era.