ABSTRACT
Tourism researchers have long recognized the importance of studying reasons for travel, motivations, and attitudes toward tourism destinations to better understand and predict travel decisions and consumption behavior of tourists. They developed and applied a number of theories to explain tourist behavior. The sign–gestalt paradigm, better known as the ‘push–pull factor’ compendium theory by Tolman (1959) and later by Dann (1977), is perhaps the most recognized theory within the realm of tourism research. While models containing variables such as perceptions, images, attitudes, emotions, cultural conditioning, and learning contributed to an increased understanding of tourist behavior, motivation seems to be responsible for explaining much of the consumption behavior in tourism, thus making it a critical variable to study on its own right (Gnoth, 1997; Sirakaya et al., 2003). The authors of this chapter support the definition suggested by Fodness (1994), when he said ‘[it is] the driving force behind all behavior.’ A motivated person acts on psychological or physiological stimuli in order to satisfy a felt need or achieve an anticipated goal (Dunn Ross and Iso-Ahola, 1991; Fodness, 1994; Gnoth, 1997).
