PROCESS STUDIES OF TOURISTS’ DECISION-MAKING

We review tourism decision-making paradigms. We conclude that the literature is dominated by ‘variance’ studies of tourists’ decisions by causal analysis of independent variables explaining choices by tourists. This ‘choice set’ approach is in consonance with the need to understand important issues such as destination attractiveness and marketing. We argue that this approach does not incorporate an ontology of decision-making as a process, a deeper understanding of which may only be generated through studies that involve narrating emergent actions and activities through which individual or collective endeavours unfold. From this base we review the tourism decision-making literature and argue for the development of process studies as an important adjunct to the current body of knowledge.