Why don't tourists visit where they would most like to go? The case of Chinese tourists to New Zealand

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed a surge of interest among social scientists in preference (in)consistency in behavioural-decision theories. Tourists, in particular, are confronted with numerous options, especially in the current digital and global context, and their preferences in destination selection change over time. Destination selection is a negotiated process that involves two aspects of choice: desirability and feasibility. This makes the investigation of preference change, the overall choice process and the reasoning behind it of great interest. In- depth interviews of potential Chinese outbound travellers who ultimately decided to travel to New Zealand in the following twelve months were conducted to explore the process of how those tourists eventually decided upon New Zealand. Surprisingly, it was found that most tourists switched initial, more desirable destination alternatives to feasible alternatives (i.e., New Zealand). That is, they failed to choose the place they would like to go most. We considered reasons why they failed to do so. These findings challenge a fundamental assumption that people are able to make choices in their own best interests. In addition, the data also reveal Australia's role as a destination which, counterintuitively, has acted as a major driver for Chinese outbound tourists choosing New Zealand as a destination.