Stupidity in tourism

Various disciplines have called upon further exploration of stupidity. The issue is pertinent to tourism as well. Stupidity in tourism may occur due to the lack of sound judgment by those involved in tourism, and it can negatively impact tourists themselves, other people, animals, organisations, or destinations. We conceptualise various manifestations of stupidity in tourism by adapting Sternberg's Balanced Theory of Wisdom (2003) and Greenspan's Explanatory Model of Human Foolishness to an Imbalanced Theory of Stupidity (2019). We then view stupid behaviour through a framework developed by Cipolla in the book The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity. The framework places all people on two axes: losses/benefits to themselves and losses/benefits to others, thus resulting in four quadrants. This paper provides a basis for further investigation of the irrational behaviour of tourists and the impacts of circumstances on stupid behaviour