Tourism motivations and decision making

Studies of tourist motivation seek to identify a relatively convenient number of forces, which can help understand the travel choices of a defined group of people at a specified scale. Research on tourists' motives has a long history in tourism scholarship but contemporary concepts emphasising motivational patterns and human flourishing are helping to refresh the field. Asking questions which identify both the importance of motives and the perceived likelihood of a destination meeting these needs are suggested as strategies to generate more insightful studies. An emerging role for qualitative approaches to complement structured questions is highlighted. Choosing a destination can follow logical structured processes but these may be overwhelmed by specific heuristics which need further consideration by motivation researchers